DBV Series 4: Zerg Wars I: Invasion
by Verto-Briefs
Summary: Dragonball Z, the Story of Verto continues in Series 4, X-Over with Starcraft. COMPLETED! READ & REVIEW.
1. Intro

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**DBV Saga 4: Invasion**

**Theme: "Step up" by Drowning Pool**

**Hey ya'll, glad to see you decided to read the fourth fic in my series, if you've gone this far then I won't bother with introductions. If you haven't, just turn back now and read the previous three sagas, it will save you on confusion time. We begin right where we left off, just as the battle for Earth begins between the special forces (aka Z fighters) and the Zerg invaders. If you didn't read Saga three, you're going to get lost pretty quick, so I'll give a bit of insight on it. The Zerg are from the Starcraft universe, the same dimension that Dabura is from, adjacent to the DBZ dimension (before it was altered by Verto's appearance). They are strong creatures that possess no ki (life energy) nor do they even have souls. They are driven by a mysterious creature known as the Overmind, who's objectives are not completely known, however it is believed that this creature wants nothing more than the destruction of all life forms it comes across. Its targets seem to be Verto and Gohan, both mystic Saiyans. The Zerg can sense the mystical energy coming off them, giving off a strange energy known as Psi, a hidden energy that much like ki, every being possess, but few can discover and use. However what no one realizes that Verto and Gohan are beginning to tap into Chi, the vast complete energy of the soul by using life energy (ki) and the spirit (Psi), as one. **

**To conquer its enemies, the Overmind must infest those strong with power, and these mystic Saiyans appear to be just what it needs. It has a big wall to get through if it wants to pull this off though. While on a training mission to the past, Vegeta and Verto bring back Bardock's crew, and train them to become ascended Saiyans to help fight against the Zerg. Bulma then sets up a wide sensor grid around the world as the newly formed team prepares for the Zerg invasion. Armed with newly enhanced armors and high powered weapons to match the Zerg, Earth's Special Forces watches and waits as the earth's military tangles with the Zerg first, watching for when they should make their move. Can Verto and Gohan learn to use the powers of Psi and Chi to defeat the Zerg before the Overmind captures them, its time to find out. **

**A/Ns: Before any of you leave me reviews with definitions of ki and chi and all that, this is my story, this is how I write it. Besides it's pretty damn close to accurate. I didn't plan on throwing that information in quite yet, but it doesn't hurt right now, I will not refer to Chi as "Chi" right away, I will keep it like I originally wrote it in that regard. **

**I was just going to write the wars involving the Zerg in one saga, however it looks to be about 80-90 chapters worth if I did that, so its going to be split in two, to know for sure what happens though, well read on.**

**Again since a lot of these battles are against Zerg, I won't post power levels that often, only when there's a shift or a battle that seems to demand it.**

"Blah blah blah" - **regular Communication**

_"__blah blah blah"_- **telepathic communication, or outside source (example TV)**

_blah blah blah _- **thoughts**

**As posted above, I do not own DBZ/GT nor Starcraft rights, I just like the series and the game**

**Rated PG13-R for language, violence, slight gore, and suggestive situations, but those are very minor.**

**Much like the previous sagas, this one is getting a polishing job to enhance it. It may not be perfect, but damnit it's gonna be close.  
**

_**This is the part where you click next.**_


	2. War for Earth Begins

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 1: The War for Earth begins**

I watched the screen carefully, the video feedback was coming in very well, which might not have been a good thing. Earth's troops had been fighting the Zerg for about three hours, and early on it seemed like they might actually hold their own. Conventional weapons didn't work that well, but they did work. Instead of maybe three bullets to down a small Zerg, it would take more like ten. My future mate, Fasha, stood beside me, her tail swishing in excitement along with mine. I say future because when we had started to bond, Vegeta wished for Shenron to turn me back into a child. It may have been for the greater good, but deep down I really hated him for that.

As we observed the human troops fight the Zerg, a few things became clear. One, the earth troops were not completely outnumbered. But they were outgunned, the insane strength of every Zerg was maddening, and it didn't matter if you were human or Saiyan, they could still hurt you. My hand went to my chest in memory of how a Zergling had torn a piece out of me right before I killed it. I had almost bled to death that day, if not for a healing technique Piccolo taught me to use. Simply put, I used my own power to heal up the wounds, at the cost of battle power. It wasn't like Dende's healing, he was never exhausted afterwards. Afterwards it was pretty well decided that ki blasts were the best thing to use on Zerg, or at least those that excelled in close range. My official partner for fighting the Zerg, Tora, stood on my left. He was looking more anxious to fight by the minute. On the display, the human troops rapidly ran down their ammunition supplies, using it to cut down a few Zerg, but by the time they could kill five Zerglings, thirty human troops had been killed. A one to six ratio would not win this fight, even with the Zerg being slightly outnumbered on the battlefields.

"The humans are losing, what is that fool waiting for?" Vegeta asked from across the room, his blue and gold armor shined as bright as any battle aura. At a few of the sites undergoing a battle, some of Mom's specialized weapons arrived, machine guns, rifles and pistols with powerful lasers, enough to take out smaller Zerg in a shot or two. Once the earth troops got a hold of these, open season started up on the Zerg, and the earth troops started pushing them back. Bulma, or mother as I referred to her now, waited by the phone, watching the holographic screen with a hopeful yet sad gleam in her eye. She was happy to see her weapons were working on the Zerg. It became nearly one human for two Zerg on those particular battlefields, as some humans could barely keep up with the Zergling speed at times. However, where the humans would stalemate the Zerg and dig deep to hold them off, a break in the line would occur elsewhere, and the advancing swarm occupied more of the land. I was amazed though to see that it was mostly Zerg ground troops and very minor air support that were attacking. The Zerg bases were established quickly, and were emptying its troops out to the massive front to battle the human soldiers, leaving them pretty drained on soldiers there. More troops were being spawned at the bases, but they quickly left to join the fights once they were born.

Another hour passed, and the number of occupied sectors doubled, and the human armies were actually winning a few of the battles. Unfortunately, the Zerg had won three times as many. The eastern continent was almost completely under Zerg control, and about a fourth of the mainland continent was occupied. The middle of the continent was especially overrun when the Zerg had broken the line in the middle and made a large push. Another two hours passed, and the East land was completely overrun from top to bottom, the mainland now had just shy of one third of it occupied by the Zerg, who were now within four hundred miles of the large Satan City.

"If they want us so bad, how come they don't just come the other way? Across the sea?" Gohan asked, his silver armor shining as if he was emitting his silvery aura, only he wasn't.

"That's obvious, the Overmind knows that we would be watching for a trick like that. It also knows its ground forces wouldn't be able to fight us over the ocean. Only its air troops can, and that would endanger the Overlords that transport the ground troops. This is the correct tactic for it to choose at this point in the game," Vegeta explained, arms folded. We were still waiting on the call from the King of the world, Furry or whatever his name is. He didn't want to dispatch us until he was sure we would be needed. Even with the advanced weapons, the human troops were falling quickly. They started at eighty percent mobilized to the front lines, they were now down to forty percent remaining after six hours of fighting, and that wasn't a small army either. True it could be much bigger, but peace since Cell ended much of the need for a large army. Soon the fighting spread into a massive stalemate, resulting in a very slow push by the Zerg. I suspected that this happened because they had to replenish fallen troops, and more of them stood back as if protecting their new lands. Some of us gazed at the screen and watched the reports on TV. Some of us slept or ate, but stood ready either way. After the eleventh hour passed and nightfall spread, the Zerg started to spread their bases in the occupied territories, totaling the number of primary hive clusters up to twenty. With new supporting troops behind them, the Zerg started to spread faster.

"That's it I'm calling him," Mom announced reaching towards the phone. It rang before she could pick it up, startling her. She pressed the button for speakerphone, "Bulma here!"

"Miss Briefs, are you watching what I have been watching?" The king's voice came over, very grim sounding.

"Yes sir I have, the earth army is getting slaughtered!" she shouted into the phone.

"Tell Goku and your husband, that you may commence with your operation. I will call off our counter-attack and have our forces hold as best they can. Take those damn beasts down!" The phone promptly hung up.

-

"Guys, take these, there's enough to give four for everyone, keep them safe!" Goku said as he dropped a few bags of Senzu beans on the couch as he put some in the pocket on his gold belt. He and Vegeta were out the door a few seconds later, and judging by the power signals, they were heading straight for the advancing Zerg in the middle of the mainland.

"You two are to go to sector seventeen, it's in the north part of the mainland where the earth army is struggling to hang on there. Get going son!" Mom said as she practically pushed Tora and I out the door. The rest of the teams were dispatched first, as there were only fifteen of us that would do the fighting anyway, but all of us were paired together with another fighter. Team one was Goku and Vegeta. Team two was Tora, Bardock's lieutenant and me. Team three was Broly, the legendary Super Saiyan, and Gohan. Team four was Bardock and Fasha. Team five, Android Seventeen and Fat Buu. Team six: Borgos and Shugesh, the other two of Bardock's crew. Team seven was the only one with three, Tien, Krillin and Piccolo.

"Let's get going kid, we have some Zerg to squash!" Tora grinned and powered up for flight. I repeated the action and we took off to the North and East, crossing the threshold between West and main continents shortly thereafter. I flipped my scouter on, my green screen slid back in from of my left eye. Mom had made special scouters for this as well, one's that only track Zerg signals.

"Zerg base currently being constructed in sector seventeen. Fifteen minutes until primary hive cluster is complete!" the scouter said, using Mom's robotic voice.

"How far to the base?" I asked the scouter.

"Seven hundred and one miles on current course, or fifty-four minutes at current speed. Correction, seven hundred miles or fifty-two minutes to Zerg frontline troops," it said, running down the miles. I hit the button on the side to shut it up, keeping the tracking on as I flew beside Tora.

"Verto, the troops aren't going to last much longer. I'd say ten minutes at best!" Mom's real voice came over the speaker in my ear attachment.

"Copy that. Tora, let's pick up the pace a bit!" I shouted, powering up further and jetting into the distance, going as fast as I could. I would have been able to go much faster, if not for the dragon wish to turn me into a kid. My power dropped to nearly a third of what it had been. While I could still use the Kaioken technique, I preferred not to turn to it if I didn't have to, my child body didn't keep up with it that too well. Supposedly my potential would be increased, but at this point it was all potential, and that is a little hard to dig out sometimes. I felt Tora hit the Super Saiyan level and fly up beside me, glowing gold at the first level. The scouter read eight minutes until arrival. Below us, I saw several cars and trucks full of people fleeing in the other direction, complete fear coming off of their small ki levels. Up ahead I saw what used to be a city, deserted now, hay bails bouncing on the streets as we passed over.

"Five minutes till arrival, suggest powering up to full strength!" What the computer didn't know was that could be bad to go all out early on. But then again my full power now was all that I could rely on for sure, since it had plummeted. Now I could see smoke filling up the night sky, and ahead I saw all kinds of fires in the distance, scattered ki feelings filled the air along with the stench of death. Below, the remaining troops were trying to protect the city, firing Mom's new laser rifles for all they were worth. Unfortunately, the gun relied on solar power, and not only was it dark, but the backup batteries were starting to run low. Zerg and human bodies lay everywhere, as did the respective colors of blood staining the ground. The human troops stopped firing suddenly, as they no longer spotted any Zerg. Tora and I landed, keeping a good eye on the horizon; the scouters were going nuts for the Zerg in that direction.

"You're the Special Forces aren't you? Thank god you've come! We're the last of the fifty-third infantry division, I'm commander Barton!" He reached out to shake Tora's hand, who helped him to his feet.

Then the commander looked at me closely, "You're that kid Verto, Bulma Briefs son! Normally I wouldn't approve of a kid on the battlefields, but I was there to see you fight in that tournament. And I know you helped Mr. Satan fight some other evil creature, can't remember that very well for some reason. Anyway, the Zerg are just over that rise there, protecting their new base. Do you need us to cover you?"

Tora grinned, "No need, we'll take care of it. Get back to your city there and assist the wounded, the Zerg may come back around so be prepared for anything!" Tora rose into the air and I followed him over the hill where the scattered feeling was very intense, like a ton of Zerg were there. The instant we cleared the hill, hundreds of green eyes glowed around us, and I saw a hint of purple skin around the closer ones as Tora's golden glow had lit up some of the area as we landed in the middle of it.

"They've been waiting for us," Tora whispered as we stood back to back, watching and sensing for movement. A twig snapped nearby, and Tora let loose a large ki blast into the mass of Zerglings that waited. The resulting explosion sent whatever survived flying and raining down around us. That was about all the Zerg needed to see to trigger all of them to advance on us. I charged ki into my hands, as did Tora, and we rose into the air.

"Welcome to Earth!" I shouted, and started unleashing hell.

**A/n: I don't own the rights to Independence Day or anything, that just sounded like a good quote to say at the time.**


	3. First Round Victory

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 2: First Round Victory**

About fifteen minutes later, I brushed some of the Zergling blood off of my stainless silver armor. Tora looked around for any living Zergling left, but all we found was smoke. Nor was there any grass or trees left; Tora and I had blasted everything around us to be sure. The Zerglings jumped at us at times, but all that did was improve the accuracy of our blasts. Some had survived the first hit, but none survived the second. There had been maybe five to ten Hydralisks in the group, but a few stronger blasts took care of the bigger beasts. Commander Barton and a few of his troops slowly peered over the hill we had left them at, amazed.

"Wow, there had to have been over three hundred of the damn things here, and you both wiped them out without getting dirty, amazing!"

"That's our business, those were easy ones though. Compared to the rest of them, Zerglings are the weakest!" Tora said in a cold voice, startling the Commander.

My scouter blipped on as Mom had something to say, _"Hey you two, I just lost a pretty good size Zerg squad around that area, did you see them?" _

"It's taken care of Mom, the new base is about fifty miles or so East Northeast isn't it?"

"_Yeah kid, there isn't much of a force there right now, so it should be easy to take out. Hey good news, the other teams engaged the Zerg at the other locations, and are pushing them back too. Good job guys, Bulma out!_"

"Let's go take this base out, then we can worry about the others!" Tora suggested, powering back up and lifting into the air, "Commander, remain at this post unless you receive other orders, your troops need the rest!" I flew off after Tora, waving at the troops who only looked on in awe.

"Weaklings like that shouldn't be out fighting," Tora muttered as I caught up to him.

"Yet if they didn't, then odds are we'd be fighting at Capsule Corp's doorstep," I replied.

Tora nodded, "Good point, let's destroy that base!" He flew fast as I kept pace with him, following the scattered ki feeling that slowly increased the closer we got to it.

Interlude 2.1 –Infested Humans-

"Take this you disgusting freak!" Vegeta growled as he shoved a Zergling aside and blasted a Hydralisk that dared cross his path. He and Goku had charged the main force of Zerg just like they wanted to. Vegeta was a bit disappointed though, sure they had found over five hundred Zerglings roaming the lands and slaughtering the humans quickly, but other than those, there were not that many of any other types. It was as if the Overmind was simply testing them, sending its weakest troops to the frontlines to be killed as cannon fodder. Goku had been quite angered at the sight of so much death, and took out half of them with one Kamehameha Wave. Vegeta had growled a bit because of that, he hadn't gotten a chance to get his hands dirty and Goku had already disposed of the threat. It didn't take long for the surrounding Zerg troops to come calling though, most of them were fought on the ground with brute force. At Super Saiyan one though, the blasted things just weren't much of a challenge to Vegeta. Even in massive numbers they just didn't seem to be worth it, and soon he just started blasting them all to hell.

_This is ridiculously easy, where's the challenge in this pathetic breed of cretins? The only reason I'm out here was for a good fight, instead I got the same weaklings we've fought before. I can't believe that this is it after all of the preparing we did!_ Vegeta thought as he broke a Zerglings' neck when it jumped into his hand, killing it almost instantly and throwing it into the piles that had formed.

"Kakarot, is this all that's left of this squad?" he shouted, as Goku was calmly and efficiently taking out the remaining dozen or so.

"I guess all that's left, is that base they put up a little ways from here?" Goku asked, blasting the last one into dust.

"Fine then, let's go take it out. Maybe they'll actually throw something at us!" Vegeta growled and blasted off into the air, Goku followed a few seconds later. Arriving at the base, they were met by twenty or so Zerglings and Hydras that were guarding the base. A few ki blasts made quick work of the Zerglings, the hydras didn't last much longer than that against two Super Saiyans. Vegeta started blowing up the various structures, sending a large amount of red blood into the air, as all of the buildings were alive anyway. Goku searched around the area as the buildings blew up, taking out a few drones that tried to get away. The Overlords that hovered around saw all of this and started floating away slowly, knowing the base was toast. They didn't get far; one of Vegeta's stray blasts flew near and vaporized them. The Super duo came across the huge hive cluster, one that wasn't even in its second stage yet, telling Vegeta exactly why they weren't much of a challenge yet. Nothing here was developed, which according to their information would mean that the troops spawned from here would be in their weakest state. Vegeta didn't honestly think it would matter either way against a Saiyan, but against the humans it might.

"All right Kakarot, there's the main structure. I don't even think we'll need to combine blasts to blow that thing...up," Vegeta dropped what he was saying because Goku had already fired a Kamehameha at it. A larger amount of organic material blew up with the building, hitting the Saiyans with the red blood, not to mention random skin and bone tissues.

"Ugh, disgusting!" Vegeta groaned, wiping the Zerg remains off of his blue combat suit.

"Well that was easy," Goku rubbed his head slightly in wonder.

"Too easy if you ask me, nothing but a waste of my time!" Vegeta snarled, spitting at the purple ground as it began to recede and dissolve itself. "Woman! What's the status on Zerg advancement?" Vegeta shouted as he punched the scouter on.

"_Well Vegeta, if you quit shouting at me, I'd tell you!_"

Vegeta grumbled, "Fine."

"_The only frontline base left now is the one Verto and Tora are flying towards, all of the other ones have been wiped out. The Zerg have stopped advancing and are holding position back at the original base locations in the east part of the mainland continent. There are a few Zerg signals running around in the country here and there, but not many of them. Easy for the army to take out_," Bulma told her mate over the scouter.

"All right, we shall be returning shortly," Vegeta turned off his scouter and glanced in Goku's direction. Goku was looking around at the ground, looking a bit confused. There was one Zerg structure left on the far side of the base, it had been severely scared by Goku's blue beam, and was bleeding out badly.

"So what, just finish it off Kakarot!" Vegeta said, charging a blast.

"Hold on Vegeta, I sense something inside it, a ki signal!"

"Zerg don't have ki, idiot! I don't sense anything!"

"It's there Vegeta! For a second I sensed it, it was very human too, and I think it's still alive. I'm going to find it!"

Vegeta grunted, "Imbecile, it's not worth the attempt. Even if there was someone in there, the human is probably already dead, or close to it. Just end their pitiful suffering!"

"I'll never know until I find out!" Goku shouted back, landing at the base of the building. It resembled a human house, kind of, except for the Zerg tissues hanging all over and around it, not to mention the blood.

"See? Nothing is here except for dead Zerg, let's get out of this dump!" Vegeta demanded. All of a sudden, the base of the house shifted a bit, and what appeared to be a door, only was more like a cave, opened up. A small figure stumbled out, with pale colored skin.

"See Vegeta, a survivor!" Goku gave him a slight glare as Vegeta grunted.

"Are you ok?" Goku ran up and asked. The human turned to him, his eyes barely holding anything for life. It was now in the Super Saiyan glow that Goku gasped in horror of his appearance. The face was covered in blood on one side, with Zerg-like tissues hanging on to it, almost attached to the head. His skin had turned mostly green, with darker patches and oddly shaped tissues poking out. The rest of the body held a similar visual, Zerg tissues everywhere.

"What a disgusting breed the Zerg are, trying to torture and even turn other beings into more of them!" Vegeta scowled.

"What happened to you?" Goku asked.

"The, the creatures came to my home, they k-k-killed my family and s-s-s-strung me up like a slave, I could feel them trying to make me, different!" the human gasped, barely able to talk. He seemed to be struggling with something, as his facial expression was rapidly switching back and forth between fear, hope, sorrow and hatred.

"How so, what do you mean different?" Goku asked. The human fell to his knees, and started to cry and shake a little with the sounds of sorrow.

"They murdered my wife and son! Why did they leave me alive?" he cried, ignoring Goku's question. Vegeta almost pitied the poor soul, but held his tongue.

"Don't worry, were going to get you some help okay?" Goku said, stepping a bit closer.

The human jumped back but kept his head down, "No s-s-stay back!" Vegeta looked on curious, all humans wanted help when troubled like this, it was very odd. _No one should have to suffer through this, except maybe Frieza._ The human stopped crying suddenly, and his head seemed to change shape a little bit, a large bump appeared on his forehead, and his eyes looked different, heavy purple bags around them like he had been in a bad fight. Then he started laughing, like a maniac.

"What the?" Vegeta whispered, trying to sort out this mess. That's when he felt the ki of the human, or the lack of it. It was now scattered to the senses, just like the Zerg.

"Kakarot, get back!"

"What's wrong with him?" Goku asked.

"Nothing is wrong, I now live for the Swarm!" The human jumped up, eyes glowing red now. Vegeta heard the voice quite well, it sounded like there was another talking, like a fusion voice, only more sinister.

"DIE, SAIYANS!" it jumped towards them. Goku, caught off guard as he was looking at Vegeta, spun around to see the human latch on to him with a crazy look in its eye.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked, shaking the human off easily. The Zerg tissue surrounding the human's skin started to bulge a little bit, then the rest of the body did as well. Goku watched from only three feet away, trying to figure out exactly what this crazy man was trying to do. Green fluid started spilling from the skin and tissue, and then the human did something impossible to Vegeta. He simply blew up like he had launched a small blast at him, only didn't. More like one of the explosive devices he had seen humans use a few times, grenades. The green fluid blew everywhere and covered everything within yards, including Goku. The fluid then started to steam when it touched the powerful Saiyan.

"Kakarot, get that shit off of you, its acid!" Vegeta warned. Goku cried in pain, powering up in the process and blew off the acid with his ki. His face still smoked a bit, and he flew to the ground in deep pain, the acid had already burned some of his skin and armor off. Vegeta landed next to the groaning Saiyan, and reached into Goku's pocket on his belt, pulling out a Senzu bean.

He shoved it in Goku's mouth, "Chew this Kakarot!" Six seconds later Goku was back on his feet, but a true look of horror on his face as he examined the now red scar tissue where the acid had burned him.

"How terrible, making humans to commit suicide like that!"

"Detestable, truly a sick race," Vegeta growled, sending a blast towards the last bleeding structure, blowing it up, "Let's get back to base, and regroup. We'll see what the others may have run across! This may not be the only time we see those!" Goku looked at the remains of the suicidal human one last time, before blasting off and following Vegeta.

-

Tora and I arrived at the base quickly. We had not run into any Zerg on the way, and could see very little in the way of troops at the base. There were a lot of drones collecting things, but maybe a dozen Zerglings or so, nothing worth mentioning. A few blasts later, all that was left were the buildings, they bit the dust next. The purple ground started to recede, but I could still sense a few scattered ki signals in the area.

"Stay alert, there's a few more around here somewhere," I said quietly, flipping on the scouter to check along with my ki sense.

"Unidentified signals ten meters that way, behind the brush!" Tora claimed. _Unidentified?_ Tora and I made our way there, and out of the bushes came a couple of human soldiers. They looked quiet scared, shaking as they held their rifles.

"Hey calm down, we're here to help!" Tora said with a warm smile. I noticed something strange, they seemed to have Zerg-like tissue all over them, like they had been buried in the purple creep a bit too long. It was all over them, even ripped in through their clothes like they had grown another arm. Their ki felt strange, in a stage of constant flux, but then, they did have a bad case of the jitters.

"They, they did something to us, ripped out my s-s-s-s-spleen I think, oh it hurts!"

"I've got something to fix ya right up then!" Tora said, reaching for a Senzu bean in his pouch pocket.

"Hold on Tora, something isn't right," I whispered. Both Soldiers looked to be in extreme pain, and soon they stopped shaking and simply dropped to the ground, clinching the pieces of purple creep left tightly. Then both of them screamed, holding their heads. I noticed now that their foreheads seemed to be bulging out a little bit, a small green bump appeared on both of their foreheads, barely visible considering they were covered in random tissues already, but definitely new.

"What's happening?" Tora asked as he put the Senzu bean back into his pouch pocket.

"I have no clue," I said, staring and even backing up a step. Both soldiers stopped screaming after about two minutes of it as we had kept quiet in order to observe them.

"What's wrong?" Tora asked, keeping his distance a bit more now as the screams weren't exactly pleasant to here from any type of creature, blood curdling enough to make Vegeta or Frieza flinch.

"Wrong, nothing is-s wrong, in fact-t everything is right-t!" One said, his head came up smiling an evil smile, but his voice is what I noticed. It was a double voice just like fusions provided, I had heard it from Gotenks, Vegito and Kibito Kai. But something about this was oddly familiar to me, I couldn't quite put my finger on it yet. Over the past few days I had re-mastered the game of Starcraft to remember possible Zerg tactics, and this one still had me astray.

"Yes-ss everything is right, now that we LIVE FOR THE SWARM!" Both said together. I paled, I knew exactly what that meant, and the now very scattered ki feeling I picked up confirmed it.

"Tora, get into the air quickly, now!" I jumped as high as my feet would take me at the time, floating far above the two infested soldiers. Tora didn't waste any time, and just as he got into the air, both of them exploded with green fluid blowing everywhere for about twenty feet or so. Tora missed all of it as he joined me in the air and observed the effects of their suicide.

"What the hell?" he asked. The green fluid then started eating away at the ground beneath us in a large circle about forty feet across.

"Infested humans, I was afraid of this. The Zerg take them over and use them to take out the enemy with suicide. I wasn't sure if we were going to see something like this or not. It's like handing a child a grenade and having it run up to a soldier after they pull the pin, same effect. I suspect that acid would have eaten right through our skin. Damn, if they're willing to do that shit, there's no telling what they may pull next!" I explained. Tora was inspecting his legs and boots just in case the green acid had reached them, but he was clear.

"These Zerg fight without honor," he muttered.

"I agree, but in this case they don't really have a choice do they, it's the Overmind that controls them. As long as that thing is alive and kicking it's going to continue this kind of brutality until it gets what it wants!"

"Then let's get some spacesuits together and blow it out of space!" Tora suggested.

"Not that simple, personally I'd rather fight it on the ground, never know what could occur in space. And it takes a special energy to knock it out I think, we may not be able to do it. I'm not so sure we can just blow it up and be done with it," I said, folding my arms in disgust.

"_Bulma to Team two, come in kid!_"

"Copy Mom, what is it?"

"_Did you destroy that base?_"

"Yeah, it's gone!"

"_Good, get back here as soon as you can. Goku and Vegeta made a discovery, its not a good one either_," she sounded slightly frightened.

"What kind of discovery, we kind of made one too," I said.

"_Vegeta and Goku said they found a human survivor in the middle of a Zerg base, and at first it was crying and scared. But then it jumped on Goku and blew itself up, showering him with acid. He's lucky he had my new armor on and a Senzu bean nearby to heal from what Vegeta said,_" she explained.

"Infested humans, we found a few also, but we avoided the acid shower. We'll be back soon," I said.

"_Copy that kido, see you when you get here. Chichi's throwing together a big meal for you guys!_"

"Sounds good, out!" I said. Tora looked hopeful for a meal made by Chichi, as my stomach growled a bit as well. We looked around for any Zerg signals left, only finding a few floating Overlords hiding in the remaining trees. They met their end quickly and we flew back to Capsule Corp, scanning for any stray Zerg signals along the way.

**-**

Getting back to Capsule Corp took a bit of time, as we had taken the effort of blasting the few stray Zerg that were running around randomly. But once we got about halfway through the north part of mainland, they stopped showing up, making our flight faster. As we got back to Capsule Corp, we could hear quite a discussion going on about infested humans. I walked in, and my eyes darted to Krillin almost instantly. Eighteen was behind him with hair clippers.

"You're growing this back later you hear me?" she asked as she took part of his hair off. That's when I caught a glare of light coming from him, his head was bald again on the left side, but beat red.

"Blame those infected humans, not my fault they blew up on me and burned half my hair off!" Krillin whined.

"Don't stand so close next time then!" she yelled in his ear. Krillin promptly shut up, the last thing he probably wanted was a ranting Eighteen on his case.

"About time you two got back!" Vegeta growled from the corner of the room, walking over slowly while looking us over.

"See any action, or just the same boring weaklings?" he asked.

"Mostly Zerglings, until we wiped out the base. You ran into the infested humans too?" I asked.

"Yes, what a dishonorable breed of creatures. Why they were allowed to exist is beyond me!" Vegeta snarled, retreating back to his wall spot. The other teams had similar encounters, mostly weak Zerglings and a few infested humans at the bases, but that was all. Hell, only Krillin and Goku had needed Senzu beans because of the acid bath they received for hospitality.

"Dinner!" came Chichi's voice. Instantly we emptied the room, leaving whomever we were speaking to, eating dust.

"I hope you guys are hungry, we whipped up probably the most food I've ever cooked at once, even for Saiyans!" Chichi smiled as she set a large platter of fried chicken on the large table that already had plenty of food on it.

"Boy are we ever!" Goku declared from the head of the table, devouring whatever she had placed in front of him. Everyone at the table, being mostly Saiyans, sighed or grunted slightly, digging in as well. About the time most of us were finished eating, Videl came dashing in.

"What is it Videl?" Gohan asked with a bunch of rice around his mouth.

"You guys gotta come see, the Zerg are doing something!" For the second time in about twenty minutes, a room full of Saiyans was clear in a heartbeat, leaving Videl wondering what just happened. Back in the lobby, the holographic display was split. Half of it was the sensor grid around the world, and the other half was the long-range view of the remaining Zerg in space.

"What's going on Bulma?" Goku asked. The large purple dot in orbit around the earth was moving, straight towards the atmosphere.

"That's what is happening, whatever that thing is, it's coming down to earth!"

"Gotta be the Overmind, it's the only thing that can control all these damn Zerg at once. It must be going to nest up in the Eastern continent!" Vegeta declared as he watched the dot make progress.

"Wow, that thing is huge!" Yamcha observed as one of the satellite cams had gotten a picture of it.

"And probably the ugliest thing ever created. What's the status on Zerg movements?" Vegeta asked. Mom flipped over to only the sensor grids, typing madly. A large round of arrows popped up, all around the Zerg occupied areas.

"All Zerg troops are holding position around their perimeter," Mom said, slightly surprised.

"Then it is going to land, probably in this area here," Vegeta pointed to an area right in the middle of the East continent. It was probably somewhere between fifty and a hundred miles south of the now deserted East City.

"Should we go take it out sir?" Bardock asked.

"No, won't do us much good. By the time we got there it will have already landed, and no doubt all of the tougher Zerg troops are standing by just in case we were to try something like this. Since the Overmind may easily detect us, it wouldn't be much of a surprise attack. It's best to remain here and wait for the next round of Zerg attacks, which more than likely will be heavier and fiercer than the last. I'm sure that blasted Overmind now knows just sending tons of weaklings won't get the job done!" he explained. I stood beside Fasha, watching, as the huge beast on the screen got closer to Earth.


	4. Sneak Attack

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 3: Sneak attack**

The ground shook slightly as the monstrous Overmind made a landing on the other side of the planet. If anything, the Overmind looked like a big Octopus with all of its appendages. I didn't even want to imagine how much energy it must use to move just across a planet, never mind across a galaxy. Mom had gotten a good scan of it once it passed by our side of the planet; she measured its diameter to be about one and a half miles or so. But it probably had enough total mass within it to fill up a tenth of the eastern continent, and that wasn't exactly a small area. Just as Vegeta predicted, it did land right smack in the middle of the east, driving its huge tentacles into the ground as it landed. It felt like a huge meteor had landed somewhat gently despite the earthquake we were picking up. All of the Zerg in space came down as well, swarming around the Overmind. Once the Overmind had safely nestled into its place, all of the Zerg went back to work, adding defensive strength with something along the lines of guard towers. They were actually evolved forms of creep colonies, the buildings that helped to generate the purple creep on the ground. Now they were Spore and Sunken colonies, spores would shoot balls of acid clouds into the air to take out anything there. A Sunken would use its huge tentacle and plunge through the ground, popping up directly under the attacking force and stab them from a distance. Both guard tower structures were formidable to attackers, but the big weakness was durability, as it would take about the power required to kill eight to ten Zerglings to wipe one out, roughly. Tora and I hadn't even seen any of these when we destroyed our target base, the others had seen one or two Sunkens but that was it. Back to the point, the Zerg troops around their respective bases started to disappear. It was quickly seen why, all those with the ability to burrow into the ground were doing so, staying hidden from scanners and sight.

"I wonder why they aren't attacking more, it doesn't make sense," Tien muttered.

"Just goes to show you how strategic the Overmind actually is, no telling when it will begin attacking again," I said, folding my arms and scowling at the lack of action.

"I think its best we all take this opportunity to rest up. It appears to me that they are just fortifying their bases right now and are not going to attack until that is done. That should give us a little rest time," Piccolo suggested.

"Right, I'll have the alarm standing by to go off if the Zerg move away from their current positions, everyone go get some sleep!" Mom ordered. I complied, I figured I would need a little rest now. I had spent half the day anxious for the battle, and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I dropped my armor, scouter and belt on the floor in my room, dropping onto the bed a half second later. Fasha appeared a few minutes later, and curled up beside me.

"Are you as tired as I am, little lover?"

"You could say that, its what we get for not sleeping worth a damn and then standing half the day watching for Zerg attacks. It wasn't fighting the Zerg that wore me out, it was the waiting for the fight that did it," I explained, lying on my stomach.

"Well we could try to have a little fun now," she suggested. I snorted slightly; it was all she seemed to think about other than fighting.

"You know that won't work no matter how hard you try," I said, shutting my eyes.

"True, but at the very least I can make sure a toddler like you gets his rest," Fasha claimed. She attempted to grab my tail from where I had it, but I swished it away, I wasn't in the mood for one of her games. Eventually she did latch onto it, but I was already asleep by the time she did.

-

My dream that night was probably the strangest one I've ever had, to start with anyway. It seemed like I was staring at a large pair of doors, waiting for them to open. I stood there for what seemed to be hours, watching them for no reason. It was dark in the halls; most everyone that required sleep was doing just that. Still I didn't move from watching the doors, like I was drawn to them. Suddenly I simply flew forward slowly, as if the doors had some kind of Saiyan magnet on them. I watched as I was about to hit them, but instead I passed through like a ghost would a wall. My deeper thoughts still controlled what I was thinking, even in REM sleep, and I was busy trying to figure out just what the hell I was seeing. _Note to self, have Mom do a CAT scan._

When I passed through the closed door, I gasped slightly. There had been no sensation, just like I had passed through an illusion or a hologram of some kind. On the other side I came into a room I remembered very well. It was the large room inside the Capsule Corp dome, one that Dr. Briefs would usually keep his pets in. It had a stream running through it, along with a small pond and a lot of trees and grass. The front area was used as a party area most of the time, as the floor was tiled here and there, capping it off with a small stage. We mostly used the stage for Karaoke. There was something eerie, yet familiar about this room, even after identifying it. _Why did I come in here anyway, I just can't dream about normal things can I?_

The room stayed rather dark, but I could see and hear just fine, and I began floating around the room's perimeter. Something struck me as odd, I wasn't floating by use of ki at all, nor were my ki senses working. During sleep I never could use my power anyway, unless it was a sporadic night terror. Thus making me glad I was sleeping next to a strong Saiyan woman and not a weak human. She could then snap me out of it by beating the crap out of me, or call in Vegeta, enough said. The trees and bushes rustled slightly, and I felt a chilly wind go through the inside room, but I ignored that. I was drawn over to the corner of the room, a far corner where really only the pets dwelled anymore, unless Goten and Trunks were trying to hide. My mind was busy trying to figure out just why I was brought in here, before I saw the hole. The hole was actually not a hole anymore, but it had been. There was still a lot of dried blood, animal and human surrounding the hole, which had been sealed by me. We had been having a party and the Zerg crashed it, digging deep underground and coming up right under Capsule Corp, trying to take us out early it seemed. That little plan had failed, miserably; all of the Zerg that had attacked got turned into Zerg chunks. They quickly learned, you don't mess with a pack of partying Saiyans. _Maybe if the Overmind had sent them to attack when were all asleep it would have worked! _

I heard a scratching sound, but couldn't refrain from my floating position. The dirt on the seal started to move aside, like something was digging up beneath it. Something did come up, a few things actually, but it was so dark I couldn't see their bodies, just the glowing redness of their eyes. They're jaws opened wide and snarled, and one seemed to jump at me and swallow my field of vision. I woke up sweating like crazy, and probably shaking a bit too. _What the hell kind of nightmare was that?_

It had been forever since I had one that intense, in fact the last one involving true terror was before the Zerg even showed up. It had been that whole Android Twenty-one the babysitter ordeal we went through. Videl had come to help out the babysitter, mostly because she had fallen for the boys' tricky tactics. One minute they were the adorable pair of angels, the next they were the demonic duo. But that night I had a bad nightmare too, and one of the only ones I could ever remember clearly. The disguised Twenty-one and Videl had been chatting in the living room, nothing bad happening. Then suddenly Twenty-one grabbed Videl's throat and killed her right there. I had woken up scared out of my mind, and went downstairs to check things out. At first nothing like that was wrong, but soon something did go wrong, and it was precisely what I had seen, like a premonition. Vegeta believed it was the fact that I had formed a deep bond of friendship with Videl at the time, as we could communicate telepathically, but not like Saiyan mates do when you hear their thoughts. I actually had to send a message at Videl for her to hear it at all, much like Namekian telepathy, so I wasn't so sure that he was right. But this nightmare was sticking to my thoughts like glue, just like the last one did, and I felt compelled to go downstairs and have a look around, mostly to get my jittery body back into control.

Careful so not to disturb Fasha, a challenge since she had a hold of my tail, I crawled out of bed. Putting on only my belt with the holster holding a gun I hadn't even drawn yet, I crept downstairs through the dark house. My ki senses told me just about everyone was sleeping, even Vegeta. I entered the lobby, finding Piccolo meditating, though I wouldn't doubt it if he were sleeping at this point. Mom was crashed out on the couch next to Vegeta, who sat straight up while he slept.

"Why are you up kid?" Piccolo whispered, almost scaring the crap out of me.

"Bad dream," I whispered back. I wondered over to the door my dreams had remained on, and got the same look at it as my dream had, causing a wave of déjà vu to hit me.

"_It sounds like more than a bad dream, I can feel your ki fluctuating. Now what was it?" _Piccolo asked telepathically.

"Something about that dream was strange. I stood in front of this door for a long time, and then I passed right through it to the room on the other side. You remember when the Zerg crashed our party? Well I seemed to float over there without any control, over to the hole I sealed up. Something came out of that hole, something horrible," I whispered very quietly, but I knew he'd hear me.

"What was it?"

"I couldn't identify it in the dark, but the glowing red eyes seemed like a bad enough hint. I'm gonna go check it out just in case," I said, hand moving for the door key pad.

"But you said it was just a bad dream?" Piccolo asked, now standing up.

"The last time I had a bad dream, Videl almost died to that disguised android. I have the same feeling now that I did then, it felt like a premonition to me," I said, punching in the lockout code. The doors opened and a nasty stench hit my face. The smell of Zerg was not the best smell of the world, dead Zerg were even worse. No one had cleaned up all the Zerg we killed that night, nor did anyone care to, so Mom simply sealed up the room. The dark room reminded me of the eeriness I had just dreamt of, causing my heart rate to pick up. Piccolo stepped in behind me, glancing around. A scratching sound got my attention, coming over from the corner of the room, frightening my mind now. I scanned for any kind of ki, any, and found none.

"Great, what now," Piccolo asked in a slightly raised voice. The lights suddenly went red out in the lobby, and a very loud alarm went off, blaring like no tomorrow. Just as that happened, I picked up a familiar scattered ki signal, and backed up a step.

"They must have burrowed underground again, that's why we didn't sense it until now!" Piccolo shouted, his ki rising for battle.

"What the hell is going on in here Namek?" Vegeta's voice came from the door.

"Does sneak attack mean anything to you?" I asked without turning. I started to power up as well, figuring if the alarm didn't wake everyone up, that would.

"What are you talking about brat?"

"The Zerg are digging underground just like they did about a week ago, they're trying to attack us when we have our backs turned!" I yelled, as my ki had enhanced the tone I used with anyone while I was powering up. The scattered ki feeling must have hit Vegeta, because he jumped up, ready for action. The bushes rattled, and I saw two distinct red eyes, glowing at us with a very evil intent, and almost a smile from its disgusting mouth.

"Great, what type are those?" Vegeta asked, not caring who answered.

"Defiler, watch out for what it spits!" I urged as the thing started to emerge from the bush. Another bush nearby rattled, and another defiler stepped out. Then I could hear the familiar growl of a Zergling, shortly before a lot of them walked out from hiding. The left defiler then hunched back slightly, and then spit forward. Red mist spilled from its mouth, and shot out towards us. We all jumped out of the way and it passed by, hitting the far wall. Almost instantly the wall started to steam and hiss, before melting into the wall and leaving a large hole wherever the red had touched. Vegeta answered with a quick and small ki blast, blowing off the creature's head. All of the Zerglings then rushed out and charged us. I punched a few down, before jumping back and blasting them.

"Boy, go seal that hole!" Vegeta ordered as he dodged Zergling blows and countered with his own. I jumped into the air, flying quickly to the other side of the room. There I saw the hole, dug in from the same spot. There were no more Zerglings pouring out, leading me to believe that they were all behind me now. I charged a blast to seal the whole, when a small object came flying towards me at a high rate of speed. I turned my head just enough for it to pass by, then looked for the source. Down on the ground, was the Zerg woman from hell, and also Dabura's daughter. _Kerrigan._ She was decked out in her Zerg form, blade-like talons on her back, huge claws on her arms. I descended to the ground, keeping my fighting stance and watching her every move.

"And just why are you here?" I asked viciously.

"Shhhh, I'm not here to fight you young one. I'm here to help you!" she whispered.

"Yeah right, why should I believe that?" I asked, preparing to let her have it.

"Because if you don't, then this universe is done, finished!" she rasped a little louder.

"What is it then?" I asked, not moving from my stance.

"I need to show you something, if you will co-operate?" she stepped a little closer. Her form being larger than me wasn't what sent chills down my back, it was the fact she was partially Zerg. Just the green skin of her face and purple lips were enough to do that, never mind the yellow eyes.

"Drink this solution. When you do, it will show you a vision that I hope will allow you to change your destiny, hurry and drink it!" she practically forced a green bottle into my hands. I forced it right back, she was the enemy, and I wasn't going to follow her orders.

"What the hell are you trying to pull? I'm not just a naïve little kid you know! I ain't drinking anything that came from such a detestable breed of creatures!" I said, jumping back a little bit.

She sighed, "Fine, I suppose it is a little difficult for you to trust me. We'll do this the hard and painful way." With that said she stalked towards me with a vicious look in her eye.

"Let's go!" I said, daring her to attack. A small Zergling came up behind me and jumped at my back. I turned long enough to kick it away, but she was already on me by then. Kerrigan took one of her huge talons and batted my head with it, causing a hell of a lot of pain. I fell back, dazed, and she whipped one of her wing-like blades around, spraying some sort of green goo similar to what the defiler had used. Only once it touched my skin, I couldn't move. It paralyzed my limbs even underneath my jumpsuit, leaving a very numbing feeling. As I struggled with the stuff, she came closer, reaching down and grabbing the front part of my suit to lift me to eye level. I remained covered in the green goo, unmoving.

"Let me go!" I shouted, struggling some more.

"It's time for you to see what the future holds for you. I hope you have the strength and will to change it!" she said, leaning forward. Her purple lips opened very slightly, and I could see her tongue was green and scaly. Any other time I would have thrown up at such a sight, but I was too frightened, and I couldn't move anyway. She leaned forward and her larger purple lips captured mine in a kiss, but when that happened, her two hands grabbed the side of my head, forcing herself in so to speak. I could taste her saliva from her lips, as it had invaded my mouth and quickly went down the back of my throat. Her claws then dug into my back, right through the bodysuit and into the flesh. I groaned a little bit, before I suddenly stopped trying to get out. My throat started to burn and I screamed through it when the sensation spread through my whole body. An odd energy came to my brain, triggering some sort of chain reaction and making me very dizzy. She dropped me to my knees, as the green stuff had come off. I watched as my skin turned green, just before my stomach lurched and broke out in extreme pain. I emptied my dinner onto the grass as I clutched at it, feeling like something had just driven a spear right through me about twenty times. My back actually hurt more than my stomach, but the stomach was taking priority right now. The pain increased, and I could hear Kerrigan speaking.

"Forgive me for this, but it's for your own good. It's time to find out if you can truly resist us or not, see you again," she said as I lost track of her.

"Verto!" I heard Piccolo yell. I heard Vegeta as well, but I no longer cared to notice, and I plunged to the ground in blackness.


	5. Kerrigan's Vision

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 4: Kerrigan's Vision**

When I opened my eyes, I was walking. I didn't know how I was walking, but I was. I tried to hold a hand up to my head, but nothing did, my hand stayed where it was. I tried to look around, but my head stayed where it was. I tried moving my eyes to look around and that didn't do anything either, they stayed fixated, and they also seemed to tint more blue than anything. _What the hell is going on?_

After a minute or two of trying, I simply accepted the fact that I wasn't in control, and watched as my body seemed to move on autopilot. I was in some kind of cavern, maybe a building, but it looked too creepy to be one. Not to mention there was skin and tissues all over the place. Then I felt as if I had extra layers of skin on me, and my hand went by close enough to see there were green and yellow Zerg tissues on them. _Oh no, I'm infested! _

That's when I realized I was really in a Zerg building; the slimy and smelly walls gave it away. There were a few Zerglings running ahead of me, and a larger Hydralisk somewhere behind me. How the hell I knew that was bone-chilling. _Where the hell am I? _

"_This is a vision of the future!"_ a voice in my head said, quite clearly too. I recognized the voice, but barely since it sounded doubled up and had a nice little echo to go with it.

"_Who is that?"_

"_Young one, don't you remember my voice? I'm Kerrigan, remember?"_

"_What the hell did you do to me? Where am I and why don't I have control of my body?_" I could see, taste, feel, hear, smell and sense energy, but I still couldn't control my actions. I could also tell that I was currently a lot stronger than my regular mystic form, a hell of a lot.

"_I told you, this is a vision, all you have to do is watch," _her female voice said.

"_Let me outta here!"_

"_You can't stop this, just like you can't stop what has already been set in motion. But you can change it!" _

"_What do you mean, like changing the future? Go back in time or something?" _

"_No silly, when the future comes and the moment of choice arrives, you must take the correct path. A simple fork in the road so to say!" _

"_What choice do I have to make?" _

"_Who lives and who dies, well not exactly, but that is the result of it. It's more like a choice of what to do at a given time,"_ she said. For someone who was supposed to be Zerg she sure did sound human, and also confusing.

"_That's a pretty simple answer, all of the Zerg die and all of Earth lives. Choice made, now let me out!"_

"_Not that simple young one, in fact it will be the toughest choice you make because you may have to face yourself in order to make that choice. I just hope I'm betting on the right odds," _she said as my body turned a corner filled with slimy grounds.

"_So why am I seeing this then?"_

"_To help you make the choice, the correct choice!" _she urged again. I decided to change the subject, she wasn't getting me anywhere with that.

"_So why are you helping me, how do I know this isn't some sort of trick?"_

"_Because the vision you see may be real far sooner than you realize, and I have my own agenda!" _

"_I thought you were Zerg, servant of the Overmind?" _

"_I am, and it controls me fully, but sometimes it doesn't pay attention to all of its underlings. My human and demon blood take advantage of that. That's why you have seen me a few times in my human form, but enough of that. I have to get going before he catches on to this. Watch young one, watch and see what your future will hold. When the time comes you will have to make the right choice, rather you agree or not. Oh and sorry for the wounds!" _

"_What the hell does all that mean?"_ I asked. I didn't get an answer, and I knew she was gone. My body kept walking through the long and slimy walls; the mere smell of Zerg was invading my lungs, making me want to gag. The wall ahead of the Zerglings suddenly blew up, causing skin, bone and tissue to go flying everywhere. In the new hole in the wall stood several familiar figures, along with a stranger looking one. The new comer had some sort of gray colored and oddly shaped head with mostly black eyes, but there was a hint of an electric blue in there. He was wearing armor I had never seen before, definitely not Saiyan. Not to mention the fact he was just as tall as Goku was, and had a strange energy coming off of him. My eyes showed some sort of thin blue aura that surrounded him, not extending further, like his skin was glowing.

"Come on boy, were taking you home!" Vegeta said, holding out a Super Saiyan arm.

"I think not," my body said, scaring the crap out of me, "None of you are leaving this place!"

"What, what did they do to you brat?" Vegeta demanded.

"We're too late, we have no choice but to destroy him now Prince Vegeta!" the new comer said, his so-called face looked grim.

"It doesn't matter what they did to me Vegeta, I feel so alive now. I don't know why I remained in that old life so long, but now its over, and I will be the strongest, it is my destiny!" my body said, sounding like a true villain. _What the fucking hell? That isn't me talking, it can't be! _

"Blast you, cursed Overmind must have taken him completely over!" Vegeta snarled, powering up some.

"There's got to be a way to help him!" Gohan said. His hair looked a bit different, but then again my eyes weren't exactly working normally now.

"Only he can do that Gohan, and I'm pretty sure that any resistance has already been put down, we've lost him!" Goku said, his head held down slightly.

"That is correct Goku, once he's infested its too late. The only thing we can do for him now is end the suffering!" the new alien said. I didn't actually know that he was alien or not, but he sure as hell wasn't human, Saiyan, Zerg, or any other being I had ever seen. Yet he seemed somehow familiar, like I should know him. Fasha stepped out from behind Gohan, and my heart, or at least my vision heart melted. The other me just smirked, and being connected to him, I was forced into the same thing.

"Join me girl, the Overmind will help you all just like he did me. I can't describe the feeling of no worries, no cares, nothing but bliss!" the other me said. It was for sure my voice, dubbed over slightly. Either way, it disgusted me to no end.

"Don't make us destroy you boy!" Vegeta threatened.

Fasha tried her hand at it, "Come on love, you've got to be in there somewhere, fight through this! This isn't you, the Overmind is only using you, listen!" _Yeah listen you stupid piece of shit!_ I thought out of habit.

"I did listen, and listening to the Overmind sure beats anything you weaklings have to say right now, but that's fine. You would have made excellent servants of the Overmind, but instead you all will die here and become his servants anyway!" he shouted, powering up a strong energy blast that hit all but Fasha, as she was short enough to duck down. Vegeta, the alien, Goku and Gohan went flying, but I could tell they would be back. My eyes darted to Fasha, and I felt my hand charging a blast and pointing up at her. She wasn't in Super Saiyan mode, so anything I fired right now would for sure kill her.

"Come on, you've got to be in there! Fight it!" she urged but didn't get any closer.

"Oh I'm here alright, I just am trying to figure out why I ever lived that phony life for so long, and why you don't understand. If we're destined to be together then you must join the Zerg, join now and you won't be killed!"

Her eyes darkened, "My Verto would never want me to join the Zerg, nor himself, he hated them with a passion. I don't know who the hell you are, but you're not him, he would never be so selfish!" _Damn right, you tell him, or me in this case._

"Verto, she will not join us on her own accord. You may kill her now!" deep and dark voice suddenly announced.

"Yes great father, I will!" _Father? Oh he must mean the Overmind, wait a sec, what am I doing? _My hand had lifted more towards Fasha, and a lot of ki was charging, more than necessary. The energy seemed very potent for a ki blast, even one at full power. It was also green in color like I had been copying Broly.

"What are you doing?" she asked, slightly scared now.

"Ending your miserable attempt to betray me, goodbye!" the other me said, laughing a little towards the end. The blast fired, and I saw it hit. _NO!_ A terrible feeling came over me at first as I watched Fasha slump to the ground. The first thing that hit me were pictures of good times we had together, every mission, every love making night, every meal. Sorrow came quickly afterwards, but it didn't last long. My Saiyan rage rushed up inside of me, and I screamed, rather it was in thought or not. With the rage came the power up. Any Saiyan mad enough will lose control and will power up right away, something I learned the hard way several times. As my power built to its maximum, which felt a little higher but not much, I felt something strange. I still couldn't control my body, so all of the power was still in my head, or maybe it was stuck back in wonderland somewhere, but I felt something else. A bright light flashed in front of me, and the view filled with a green light. The light felt like ki, but it wasn't all ki, it was more like I could sense ki as a part of it. There was another piece adding to it I felt, like a deeper power that I always had and could never find. I felt tremendous power coming from both sources as they combined together. As quickly as I saw the light, Fasha's death was fresh on my mind, and my rage took over again. The view of light exploded and faded into blackness.

**-**

I felt fluid around me, and my ears were picking up air bubbles moving through it, like I was underwater. I opened my eyes to see exactly that, water with air bubbles flowing around me. I found that I could breathe, thanks to the mask on my face. _Must be in a regeneration tank, wait a sec, I can move! How the hell did I end up here?_ I looked up at the window, seeing a cranky black haired woman standing there with hands on her hips. I right away looked for the skillet that she was known to carry, but I didn't see it.

"I think he's waking up Bulma!" she said in a muffled tone, the glass didn't really help there. A loud beeping went off, and the water slowly drained away, taking the watery sounds with it. The tank opened up, and the mask came off of my head, allowing me to breathe normal air. The ever so feisty Chichi looked rather annoyed as she held a towel. That was when I noticed I was no longer in my bodysuit, or in any other article of clothing. Blushing slightly, I reached to grab the towel from her hand. She instead held onto it and dried me off herself.

"You really gave us a scare there, don't ever do it again!" she whispered the last part.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my memory was a little fuzzy right now. She pointed up to a TV type monitor with a camera frozen on someone lying on their stomach. The person had a silver bodysuit on, a tail and a belt. But the more noticeable features were the eight different stab marks in the back, and all of them were leaking large amounts of blood. The person's skin had also turned slightly green and brown. I quickly realized that this person was actually me when Piccolo and Vegeta came onto the screen and hauled me off.

"Well it doesn't look like he was infected, infested, or whatever you call it Bulma. He's all yours, I'll bring some armor!" Chichi said, standing up and walking out of the room. I recognized the room as Mom's lab. Mom was standing at a computer panel, looking over what seemed to be a magnified strand of DNA.

"Well, feeling better I hope?" she asked without turning. I picked up the towel Chichi had left me and wrapped it around my waist.

"I guess, what happened?"

"Don't remember very well huh, well what do you last remember?" she asked. I didn't want to tell her that, that vision had doubled as my own personal hell.

"Just a nighttime battle of some kind, we were fighting off Zerg in the party room I think, then.." I paused, hoping that would fly.

It thankfully did, "You were attacked rather badly as Piccolo and Vegeta put it, said some Zerg woman sliced you up real bad, and those wounds told the story. She also injected you with something that tried to change your genetic makeup. The Zerg bitch got away somehow, Piccolo and Vegeta both said she simply vanished and they couldn't trace her. We suspect she got away through the same hole in the party room. I don't know how, but it looks like you managed to flush the infection or whatever it was out. I saw that it was gone when you suddenly powered up in there, which is something Vegeta wants to see you about," she looked slightly thoughtful about that.

"Might have been that bad dream I just had," I suggested.

"Must have been a torture chamber in there fighting that infection, glad to see you pulled it off!" she said as Chichi walked back in.

"Try not to tear these up this time!" Chichi handed me a capsule, releasing it I found an armor box. Inside was a silver colored jumpsuit just like before, and a new belt and gun to go with it. As I slipped the belt on over the bodysuit, Mom held out something in her hand.

"You never got a chance to use these last time, so I saved them," she dropped four small beans into my awaiting hand. I pocketed them, and then slipped my new armor over my head. Chichi left, but another presence came by to check on me.

"Is the brat functioning normally now?" Vegeta growled.

"Yes, just don't beat him up right now. Those wounds were so deep that they are going to leave quite a batch of scars, regen tank or not!"

"Whatever woman, come on boy!" he scowled and walked away as I followed.

"So how long was I out?" I asked as I followed Vegeta down the hallways of Capsule Corp.

"Two and a half days, what did you do to fight the infection off?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"I dunno, I had a rather bad dream and was a bit pissed off and I felt myself power up. That was about it," I said.

"That can't just be it, not with what I sensed come off of you. Kakarot and the Namek agree with me that you have deeper hidden powers than we originally thought, and I believe you inadvertently used that to fend off the infection, rather you were aware of it or not!" He stopped ahead of me just then, spinning and staring me down.

"Tell me about your dream," he said in a low tone.

I backed up a step, "I'd rather not."

"Why not?" he demanded in a slightly stronger tone.

"It's just not something I want to discuss," I said, keeping my head low.

"Tell me now, quit stalling!" _Fine, but don't blame me when I lose it._

"I was told it was a vision of the future, one that sees me get captured and infested. It was like watching and feeling your actions without actually performing them, like I was on autopilot or something. I was in a Zerg building of some kind. Then you, Goku, Gohan, Fasha and some strange alien showed up to break me out. The other me, the one in control, wasn't going, in fact he instead elected to stay and live under the Overmind! If that wasn't bad enough, then he blasted you guys out of the way, missing Fasha. She tried to reason with the other me, that's when he, he…" I started sobbing slightly before the anger kicked in and I lost control.

"He what brat?" Vegeta asked, agitated. I responded by throwing my head back and screaming one hell of a blood curdler, powering up in the process. I was again so mad that I was going to blow something up, and I didn't care what. Blue lightning surrounded me, and my power hit my maximum ungodly quick, then it kept on going after that. I felt a tiny pull in my stomach area, like something was hiding and yet itching to get out. Once I realized what I was doing, I quickly calmed myself, noticing the pull feeling vanished the instant I let go of the rage.

"Whoops, sorry," I said, holding the back of my head ala Goku. Vegeta looked quite surprised at my little outburst to say the least. Okay, so now he was in Super Saiyan two and ready for anything, but still quite surprised.

"What is going on back there?" I heard a voice. Goku and Bardock came racing into the hall, Gohan and Broly quickly afterwards. Vegeta dropped his power down quickly, returning to his usual grouchy state.

"Nothing, Kakarot stay with me. The rest of you are excused!" Gohan and Broly just shrugged and walked back down the halls, Bardock had more of a concerned look on his face.

"Boy do you realize what you almost did?" Vegeta asked.

"No, what?"

"You almost transformed into a Super Saiyan despite your mystic power up, or at least that's what I think happened. That's the highest I've ever felt your power at in your current form, not counting the Kaioken attack of course," Goku said, hand to his chin.

"What do you mean? I hit my maximum, but it wasn't that much. That's a little less than Piccolo's level isn't it?" I asked.

"It was," Vegeta said, confused.

"After this Zerg mess is over, I think it's a good idea to take a trip to see the Kais about this. They said you wouldn't ever transform into a Super Saiyan again, unless of course you slacked your training and lost the mystic ability. Which won't happen as long as I'm around!" Vegeta grinned slightly at that thought.

"I thought that a Super Saiyan with the mystic power would overload? That's what Old Kai told me anyway. I don't feel that tired!" I admitted.

"That's what is so strange, it just feels like you almost had it. Surely you remember when you first tried to transform, it left you drained, despite your already large power supply. You didn't lose any power at all trying to transform now, you just didn't make it when you stopped yourself," Vegeta explained.

"This is weird," I muttered, "So what's been happening while I was under the weather?"

"But Verto, you were inside, the weather is all outside isn't it? Unless Bulma made some kind of machine that can make sunshine and snow inside now!" Goku said.

I slapped my forehead, forgetting that Goku had trouble with catch phrases, "I meant with the Zerg Goku!"

"The Zerg have taken over half of the mainland continent now, Kakarot's home was wiped out yesterday. They have yet to cross into the North and South continents, but it would only take them a little bit of a march to overtake those. They are still two hundred miles out of Satan City, but right now they have stopped, refortifying their bases as they build them. They have been advancing slowly around the clock, but not like they did on day one. We are attacking they're front lines once or twice a day, but it's still difficult to keep up with them all without burning up all of our Senzu beans. There have been two more attacks around here, but it was just a few suicide bombers, didn't even hit. We will need to make a big push against them soon if we're going to stop them for sure. Also we haven't encountered much in the way of more evolved forms, just a lot of the same weaklings as before. Only they've had a bad habit of waiting us out before advancing again, pathetic if you ask me," Vegeta explained, snorting slightly.

"Is everyone ok then?"

"Unlike you, they can take a few hits," Vegeta grinned slightly as I scowled, "But everyone is fine, just worn down." We started walking again, getting a full Goku type story on how he and Vegeta wiped out a big squad of Mutalisk flyers without breaking a sweat. When we entered the lobby, I noticed most everyone was either munching on some food, or doing their best to rest; there wasn't much talking taking place. Until of course a certain female came down the stairs. She grabbed my hand and drug me up the stairs.

"Uh oh, looks like Fasha's pissed," I heard Shugesh laugh as I disappeared up the stairs after her.

-

SMACK! I held my cheek tenderly as I picked myself out of the wall. I kind of felt lucky, she didn't completely overdo it.

"That's what you get for making me worry so much!" she shouted.

I sighed, "Hey I didn't know that was going to happen, it's just that I have these dreams some times that lead into bad luck. We're all lucky that I had one in the first place, otherwise we would have all been asleep when they attacked!"

"Did you forget already that Bulma's alarm could wake up just about anything that isn't dead?" _Good point. _

"Now if I'm going to spend eternity with your stubborn little ass, then let's get one thing straight! Don't ever run off into a battle like that ever again!" she screamed the last part, making my ears bleed a little bit.

"Sorry Fasha," I said, sitting down on the bed.

"Good, now that we have that settled, what's this about a Zerg woman taking you down?" _Oh great, right to the point._

"She used some kind of green goo that ensnared me. Whatever that crap was, it paralyzed me, kind of like a tail would when squeezed. Then she stabbed me a whole bunch in the back, and injected something that made me hurl and my skin turned green. That's about all I recall," I explained.

"How rude, next time we see her I will challenge her to defend your honor!"

"Somehow I don't think we need to worry about honor, Zerg don't care about that remember?"

"Oh, that's right, I think your brain farts are starting get to me, quit thinking!" She giggled and joined my side on the bed, poking at my tail with her own.

"So what made you go off the handle in the regeneration tank anyway?"

I sighed, "You don't want to know, believe me."

"Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad!"

"It doubled as my own personal hell. I don't ever want to experience something like that again, so please don't bring it up, okay?" I asked. Fasha pulled off my armor, and then inspected my back under the bodysuit.

"Good god, what the hell did she do to you?"

"Stabbed me in the back I'd say, hurt like hell too!" Fasha tossed my armor to the side, getting a bit closer.

"What do you say we enjoy a nice long nap then?" she cooed. A nap didn't sound too bad; I wasn't going to be able to do much else with her anyway. Neither one of us got our wish, because the alarms went off. We quickly rushed downstairs for an update. Everyone was gathered as Mom and Vegeta came running into the room. The grid of the planet was flashing crazily, mostly in the middle.

"What is it woman?" Vegeta asked. After several keystrokes, Mom gasped slightly.

"According to this, there are about seven thousand Zerg troops of various types out there. They are advancing quickly in the mainland, heading straight for Satan City!"

"Here we go again," Krillin grumbled.

Fasha and I quickly dashed back up the stairs for the rest of our gear, though I could sense Fasha had a lingering question. She didn't ask until I had pulled my armor on.

"Please? Just tell me what you saw in your little nightmare? What happened in that twisted mind of yours?" she asked as she grinned slightly. I strapped my belt and clicked my laser pistol into its holster before giving her the serious eye. Her reassuring grin faded when she realized the severity of it.

"I killed you."


	6. Battle for Satan City

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 5: Battle for Satan City**

I honestly thought Mr. Satan might be part Saiyan, because he was out the door faster than anyone. Over the past two days he had started training a few people that signed up, but once it was break time he was back in the Capsule Corp compound, helping out. And let's face facts, even if a few semi-strong humans signed up, it would take a good while before they could come close to even Videl at this point. He wasn't the only one a bit alarmed about Satan City being the target; Buu was the other that looked seriously disturbed.

"Bee is still at home, Buu must help Bee!" he said in his squeaky high-pitched voice.

"We're all going to help Buu. Okay, let's all go and stop them!" Goku said, rising to his feet.

"So then everyone is going?" Mom asked, sounding slightly surprised.

"Unless you want that city razed to the ground and thousands of people killed woman, I would suggest you call ahead to the proper authorities to start evacuation," Vegeta said, pulling on a glove over his hand. Mom was on the phone in a red-hot second, calling the king.

"Let's go guys!" Gohan said, a bit anxious to get out there. We all followed out the door and took off into the air, catching up to Hercule a few minutes later, who was flying as fast as he could.

"You guys are going to help, right?" he asked.

"Yeah of course we are, after all we can't just let the champ's city go down right?" Goku said as a joke, though no one really laughed. Satan looked slightly relieved as Buu flew up beside him.

"Mr. Satan take Bee back to base, Buu do the rest!"

"But Buu, I'm gonna fight those things too! You can get Bee!"

"No, get Bee and go!" The look on Buu's face wasn't one that I wanted to remember, but I did recall it as leaning on the edge of pissed off. Buu grabbed Satan by the top of his armor, so he could go faster since they were starting to drop behind. We arrived at Satan City about a half hour later, the roads were jammed full of people trying to get out. There was a massive amount of vandalism going on too, something Gohan and myself didn't really find appealing. There were regular army troops waiting on the far side of the city, near the bay and marina.

My scouter flipped on, "Zerg signals approximately fifteen miles away, estimate twenty minutes before arrival!" _That's not much time. We'll have to evacuate these people while holding them off. _We landed at the command center the troops had set up, and Vegeta went directly inside along with Goku.

"You're the special forces aren't you?" a random soldier asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Tora said, grinning slightly that so many humans looked up to us.

"Good 'cause there's a lot of Zerg heading this way!" the soldier replied. I heard a scream nearby in the streets, but no scattered ki signals were going off, meaning it was just humans over there. Gohan was already heading in that direction, I followed him quickly. We rounded the corner to find a bunch of thugs mugging a blond girl and a blond guy, both of them teenagers.

"Give it up you two! The Zerg are going to be here any minute, just give us the dough and we'll be on our merry way!" one thug said, a gloved hand on the blond's purse. The blond guy was trying to fight off the three other thugs, but was getting beat down pretty bad.

"Hey! Unless you four want to deal with me, drop the purse and go!" Gohan shouted, catching the attention of all six people.

"What the hell do you want kid, we're busy here!" the lead thug said.

"Tony, that's one of them Special force guys that are trying to take out the Zerg!" The other three thugs suddenly had a bad case of the jitters, not that I could blame them. The leader, Tony, gave us a good look over, before promptly dropping the purse back into the blond's hands. Then he was running for the hills along with his crew.

"Hey, thanks for the help. We were just trying to get out of the city and those bums jumped us and, w-w-what? Gohan?" the blond guy said, I now recognized his bloody and bruised face. The other one was defiantly Erasa; I could hear that ditzy giggle from a mile away.

"You two are a part of the special forces?" Sharpner looked shocked as hell.

"Yeah, but that's not important right now. The Zerg are just a little bit that way, get outta here while you can!" Gohan urged them, but Sharpner had more questions.

"How did a bookworm end up on a team that saves the world, I don't get it," he scratched his head.

"You don't have to get it Blondie, but you stick around any longer and you'll get a first hand look. He's only a bookworm because of his mother, but the battlefields are a different story. Now get outta here, I don't wanna have to save your ass!" I shouted from behind Gohan.

"Brat! Get up here, we're going to fight the Zerg before they get to the city!" Vegeta's voice rang in on the scouters, scaring the blonds and us all at once.

"Who was that?" Sharpner asked.

"You remember Vegeta don't you? That was him," I grinned slightly as Sharpner's face went pale.

"C'mon on, let's go Erasa!" he said, throwing down a capsule to reveal his sports car. They jumped in and were leaving tire marks in no time, allowing Gohan to breathe a little easier.

**-**

We ran around the corner to see Vegeta barking orders to the human troops. A man decked out in commanding gear saluted him as he did this.

"If we fail, then leave the city. There won't be anything left of it then!" Vegeta growled, rising into the air. The rest of the team did so as well, following the prince as we flew off towards the Zerg signals. We didn't have to fly far to start seeing them, we held position a mere five miles from the outskirts of the city. There were tons of them, I couldn't believe how many there were. Vegeta looked pissed and excited all at once, no doubt he could smell a nasty battle as he cracked his knuckles. The horizon clouded up with dust because of all of the ground troops, covering up most of the flyers. There were a lot of those to, much more than we had seen before. When the lead forces got within three miles, Vegeta powered up, a signal we agreed on earlier. The rest of us powered up as well, clouding that scattered ki feeling for a moment with all of the golden power in the air. Most everyone who could kicked up to Super Saiyan two, the rest of the fighters up to their maximums, myself at what I could get out of my mystic state.

"Spread out!" Vegeta barked as we flew apart and lined up. He charged a Galic gun blast behind him as Goku prepared a Kamehameha. I charged my own Galic gun attack, as did everyone else with his or her respective moves. The dust cloud the Zerg were kicking up got a bit closer, as we were in the air now anyway, but just barely off the ground.

"On the count of three, fire!" Vegeta ordered. _One second_, I could see the glowing green eyes of Zerglings. _Two seconds_, the Hydras were hissing and dripping saliva. There were huge Ultralisks with them this time, the elephant like creatures with super sized tusks, and there were a lot of those. I heard some flyers utter their own little battle cry that sounded like something a dragon would produce.

"Three!" Then all of us let loose probably the most colorful display of ki blasts ever, all in one wide line and straight towards the Zerg advancement.

-

One plus about releasing such a big blast to start with, all the small fish on the front lines won't be a problem later. That held true in this battle, I didn't see very many Zerglings or hydras after the initial attack, unless you count their dead corpses of course. The battle had been going on for about thirty minutes, and the Zerg were still flowing in. Vegeta used his master tactician skills and dictated where everyone should go shortly before the Zerg recovered from our massive blast attack that had wiped out probably about a third of them before we sent it into space and away from the surface. He and Goku would be up front and primarily on the ground, since there seemed to be more of the ground troops anyway, Gohan and Broly would be there too. Teams five and six would stay back from the big brawl, but would also be on the ground. Team seven: Krillin, Tien and Piccolo; would remain back and take out any Zerg that may have gotten past us. That left me and Tora assisting Bardock and Fasha in the air, taking out a lot of different flyers. It was decided that since Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Broly were apparently more accustomed to physical battles, that they would take on the Zerg on the ground and the rest of us would primarily be using ki blasts and try to avoid taking damage. I didn't have a problem with that as I had taken enough hits from the Zerg to know what it was like; besides I preferred energy attacks anyway. There were plenty of Kamikaze flyers that flew in, only to get blasted the instant we saw them. I remembered what it was like to get hit by one of those back on planet Kanassa, and it wasn't something I wanted to repeat. The others were Mutalisk flyers, Guardians-which were the heavy assault flyers that resembled crabs. There were a few Devourers too- the other heavy assaults that shot acid crap into the air.

Everyone was doing rather well, the Zerg numbers were plenty, but they all came straight at us from the same general place, making it easy to fight them. Bardock instructed us to spread out, about five hundred yards away from each other in the air, a tactic that worked quite well. We didn't see much of what was going on the ground as clouds of bloodied dust clogged the air, but just the sounds told us there was a war going on, enough elephant body parts were flying through the air. No doubt Vegeta had something to do with that, though it was hard to say it was just him. _This seems too easy for seven thousand troops, _I thought as I blasted another guardian through whatever the thing called a chest.

An overlord floated slowly by, trying to get past my field of vision, like I couldn't sense it. It met its end a second later, the damn things were just too slow, especially sense they didn't appear to be evolved at all. I glanced around briefly to sense the others around me in the air. Their energy was a bit on the low side, but that was to be expected after using mostly ki blasts and not physical strength. Since most of the Zerg air forces used some sort of acid in their attacks, it just wasn't a good idea to risk any of that getting on our suits, not everything was completely acid proof. The overlords however, I enjoyed ripping those apart with my gloved hands. I found a few that contained troops for transport, but very few. Not only that, but I tended to cut those up so quickly that the troops couldn't get out fast enough, as the flyers had to descend to let them out. Since most of the time they couldn't descend quick enough, the troops or drones would fall out and plunge a long way down into the ground war that was going on. If they survived the fall, they didn't last much longer than that with six Super Saiyans on the ground, never mind the android and a magical creature of terror that were directly below me.

The amount of troops eventually started to run dry, at least in the air. The Mutas and Guardians were coming toward us in smaller and smaller numbers. Their Kamikaze friends were sometimes mixed in with them, but rapid-fire ki blasts were mopping up the floor with them. None of these Zerg seemed tough at all, making me wonder about that. Then again we weren't fighting them hand to claw either. _Are these things not being upgraded or evolved all the way, or are they already up there and we're just too powerful? I hope it's the latter, but the Overlords are still slow. I know they can move faster than snails in the air if upgraded. If I remember right they are pretty quick and comparative to the faster Zerg flyers, and those are usually the start of evolved forms with the Zerg. Of course this isn't exactly artificial intelligence that were fighting here. _

**-**

The air troops died out soon after, and I saw very few afterwards, bordering on slim to none now, down to maybe five flyers per minute, rather than hundreds. I took the post battle time to really catch my breath; the constant ki blasting took its toll. The dust and blood cloud started to recede from the ground, giving us a good look at what happened with that war. Seventeen and Buu didn't fight that much, since they were back towards the city more. Shugesh and Borgos had definitely seen some action, their armor was bruised and beaten a bit, a few cuts on Shu's leg, but nothing too bad. Gohan and Broly emerged from the battle, looking quite roughed up, not to mention the amount of Zerg blood all over them. I sensed Vegeta power up one last time before letting it fall again. Then he lifted up, no blood on him at all. I shook my head slightly since he had probably gotten it all off with that last powerup in attempt to mock everyone else as he and Goku rose into the air. Vegeta had a very bright smirk on his face.

"Now that was what I was expecting. They're still inferior creatures, but at least they made me try this time!" he said. Piccolo, Tien and Krillin flew up behind us, their energy hadn't dropped much, as not many Zerg troops got by us.

"Is that all of them?" Tien dared ask.

"For now, what a shame, I was just getting warmed up too!" Vegeta chuckled with arrogance.

"Hey guys, is that first round taken care of?" I heard Mom ask over all of our scouters.

"First round?" Krillin suddenly had a bad case of the jitters.

"Yeah first round of seven thousand, are they gone? Because another round of about eight thousand Zerg is coming your way, and my scanners are detecting slightly different variations of all of them! Their skin or scales are a lot tougher with this group, and they're faster now too!"

"Oh crap, they hadn't even upgraded yet, I thought so!" I said without thinking straight.

"That's right, you mentioned that they can evolve into tougher forms too! Damnit, everyone eat a Senzu bean!" Bardock growled, shoving one in his mouth. I pulled one out and ate it, my energy shot back up to full power instantly, fatigue lifted from me and I became battle ready like I just took a nap that lasted five days with full meals included. All of the ki powers shot back up to full again, except for Teams five and seven. Seventeen didn't need it, and Buu, well...

"Spread out in the same formation, with luck this battle will go the same way!" Vegeta barked as he and Goku descended once again. Everyone got into position, watching for the swarm of beasts to show up again. The scattered ki feeling filled the air slowly, but the Zerg seemed to be slowing down, maybe hesitant about facing fifteen powerful fighters again. I didn't have to be concerned for long, the beasts of the air showed up pretty soon as Bardock and Fasha started floating to the right a little bit, Tora towards the left with me. Mid way through the earlier battle we left the middle open partially, as Buu and Seventeen were waiting not far behind us as the ground troops were nil with most of the Super Saiyans in front of there on the ground, giving a pretty good defense there. The Mutas arrived and lined up first, probably about a thousand yards out. The guardians and Devourers lined up and behind them, Kamikaze's were in random positions along with a lot of Overlord's this time. Either way, I still couldn't count this many flyers; I could only imagine what was on the ground in front of Vegeta and Goku. Then as the Zerg were lining up in front of us, I could hear Gohan and Vegeta having a general conversation with Mom over the scouters, mostly on how tough the new Zerg were.

"I don't know! Fire off a shot Gohan, that should tell us!" Vegeta growled, not looking back at Gohan. I saw Gohan pull his pistol from the holster and aim it at a scaly Zergling and fire. The tiny beam hit the creature dead on and it fell to its knees, but snarled and got right back up. _Oh boy._ Gohan fired again, this time the dropped and didn't move again. Gohan shot it a third time to be sure and it exploded.

"Yeah, they're a bit tougher this time Bulma. It took a few shots to kill a Zergling this time!" he said into the communication system.

"Okay, I'll work on a stronger weapon, good luck guys!" No sooner did she say that than did Vegeta's power rise back up to Super Saiyan two, causing most of the Zerg in front of him rush forward to meet their maker. Then all hell broke loose again, the flyers came straight at us. I charged up ki blasts in my hands and started firing, aiming primarily for the attackers and not the Overlords, who were moving in with them. The air troops were tougher this time too, it took just a tad more energy to kill each one this time, forcing me to power up to full power again rather early just to keep up with them all. I sensed Piccolo fly up the middle and join us in blasting away at the air forces. Overlords were passing by us like crazy, mostly because if we stopped to shoot them as well, one of the kamikazes would get too close. I fired off several more shots, seeing the line before me clear up enough to charge a big one.

"Masenko-HA!" I shouted, firing a massive ki blast from my palms and into the Zerg crowd. Several guardians and Mutas dropped from the sky, right onto the advancing Zerg ground troops, crushing some of them. The Kamikaze flyers and the devourers dropped down too, but there were barely any bodies left of those who got into my beam's path. The effort was starting to strain my body, constant ki blasting was making my supply run low. I was a bit glad though, since Kerrigan had wounded me so badly, I got a bit of a boost when I got out of the healing tank. I powered up what I could and kept it up, slowly seeing the numbers in front of me dwindle. On the ground, well it was still a war zone. Vegeta and Goku were fighting in what looked like an arena. It wasn't an arena, it was just so many Zerg bodies piled up that the Zerg had to climb over them to get to the Saiyans. They had also jumped up to Super Saiyan three, signaling that they were about out of power as well. Broly had gone to his ultra form already, beating Ultralisks up like crazy, throwing a few around to crash into other Zerg that surrounded him. Shugesh and Borgos had jumped up beside Gohan, beating countless Zerg around in their Super Saiyan two forms. Seventeen and Buu then arrived up in the air, no doubt they sensed we were started to run low on power, or at least Buu did. A kamikaze flyer got past some ki blasts and slammed into Tora, causing his armor to steam a lot as the acid touched it. Buu caught him in the air and used his magic to heal, restoring Tora's power right then and there.

Then the blob came my way, "You need Buu to heal you too?"

"That would be nice Buu, I don't suppose you can wipe out about a thousand of these air troops that are still coming could you?" I asked, still firing ki blasts in front of me. Buu didn't really answer, but as I fired the energy, I felt a blue energy surround me. New power flowed in from somewhere and revitalized my slowly weakening ki blasts. Now I was cooking, with new strength I was able to fire another large and wide destruction wave into the Zerg masses, causing a lot of air troops to be taken out of the battle as they fell to the ground. I was still seeing plenty of Overlords going by, and I noticed that the ground troops were running out quickly. There were still plenty of flyers coming, which was something I found slightly odd. _Must have been many more air troops this time. _Buu went on to heal Piccolo, Bardock and Fasha before coming back to me.

"You want Buu take care of Zergies up here?" he asked with a bright smile.

"If its not too much trouble Buu!" I said, yelling a bit as I fired more ki blasts. I had never fired so many before, I thought it was a lot just in the previous battle, but now with tougher Zerg I had to give at least double the power output than I already was. Even with Buu's healing job, it was beating me up a bit. Buu jumped in front of me, causing me to stop firing suddenly, but not before one blast went through his gut. He ignored it and regenerated instantly, and then he flew into the clouds of Zerg air forces. They attacked him instead, no longer coming towards us in the air. The Overlords continued to pour through, but now we could blast them down as well.

"What's that thing doing now?" Seventeen asked as he flew up beside me.

"You got me, I asked to help us out and he just goes flying in after recharging our power! Take that!" I shouted as I blasted another Overlord that was flying by. Then suddenly, a large pink light covered the skyline where Buu was. Then, amazingly, the scattered ki feeling took a nosedive, like tons of them had just kicked the bucket. When the pink light vanished, probably eighty to ninety percent of the remaining Zerg air forces in front of us were gone. It turned out to be the next best thing; I saw hundreds of tiny dark spots falling out of the sky, like a brown rain or snowstorm. Buu was flying around, picking them up, and he seemed to swell up a bit as he did. Then I flew closer and saw what happened.

"That has got to be one of the most original ways to get rid of so many Zerg," I said, grinning.

"What's that?" Seventeen asked.

"You remember that little chocolate trick of his? Well the Zerg just got introduced to it. Now he's getting his reward," I explained.

"He just turned all those things into chocolate, and now he's eating them? What a creature," Seventeen muttered.

"Makes you glad he's on our side now eh?" I asked.

"Yeah, no shit!" I saw no more Zerg coming by air, and the ground forces had died out.

"Verto, come in please!" Mom's voice came over.

"Yeah what is it Ma?"

"Are you guys okay over there?"

"For the most part, why?" I asked, curious.

"Well I wasn't sure since half of Satan city is on fire!" Seventeen and I spun around to see exactly what she was talking about. Then I saw the general problem, all those Overlords we had missed were floating above the city.

"Damn, those must have all had troops in them! We couldn't hit them all without taking damage, shit! Vegeta!" I shouted. The rest of the Zerg coming at us had gotten wiped out pretty quick, and everyone that was fighting on the ground then flew up to my position in the air.

"What the devil happened boy?"

"Simple really, they overloaded everything in the air, and sent all of the transports forward while we had to deal with all of the attack flyers. Since you guys were a brick wall on the ground, they went for the upper air holes instead. The Overmind wasn't just after us; they wanted this place razed to the ground. Quite a plan that thing had this time, all of the Overlords that got past us are floating above the city right there!" I pointed out.

"C'mon then, let's wipe out whatever Zerg are left in the city! Watch your blasting since we've got buildings and humans everywhere!" Vegeta ordered.

"You guys better hurry, there's another wave heading your way. They are about fifteen minutes out, and it's even bigger!" Mom said over the scouter. _Great._


	7. Insubordination

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 6: Insubordination**

The number of Zerg troops that had gotten past us really hit my pride big time. There was easily several hundred Overlords floating around in the air, and for each one they could hold eight troops or so, depending on size of course. On the ground, there were primarily Zerglings running around, fighting human troops and civilians now. We split up into teams again, dropping into the streets. Tora and I found the same pack of punks that were harassing Erasa and Sharpener earlier, and they were being attacked by Zerg now. The leader's leg was bleeding pretty bad, a Zergling had taken a piece right out of it. The other three had clubs in their hands, trying to hit the lings with them. The Zerglings were too fast for them, and kept dodging and growling at them. One club actually did hit, the surprise on the guy's face when it didn't do anything would have been a Kodak moment.

"I got these," I said. Tora nodded and rushed up to the other side of the street, where several Zerglings were attacking a restaurant. I snuck up on the Zerglings in front of me, flying slowly until I was right behind one. It finally turned around, no doubt feeling my energy output, and received a nasty punch to its face. The rest of the Zerglings turned on me just then, deciding to go for the bigger target.

"C'mon you bastards!" I growled, waving my hand. The pack of five now approached carefully, until just snarling in rage and rushing forward. I backhanded one, sending it to the ground. The next two received knife-edge chops with either hand. Number four got a kick that almost went through its body right before it fell down in pain, trying to get up. The fifth one tried to attack when I was fending off the fourth; I let it hit my stomach area since it came in at a bad angle. The claws fortunately didn't do much more than scrape the armor a bit. I grabbed the right front leg and started spinning it around in the air, spinning with it for more momentum. The Zergling snarled and whined, trying to get free. One of its claws managed to pierce through my glove and snag the back of my hand, but it was too late for it now. I swung it around some more before letting go, sending it into orbit and long gone. The other four had recovered by now, and were trying to approach again. I charged ki into my hands, more noticeably my fingers, and let loose small finger beams instead of blasts. Three of them got a leg or two blown off and were immobile. The other one hit a bit more on the mark and simply dropped on the spot, getting hit in whatever the thing called an eye. It died instantly since it must have hit the brain and shot out the back of the head. With the other three Zerglings immobile, I blasted them easily and wiped off the pieces of Zergling stomach that hit my face, spitting on the fallen creatures in disgust. The four punks were busy picking their jaws up off the ground.

"D-d-dude!" one gasped.

"D-d-dude, get the hell outta here while you can!" I practically screamed at them. That got them moving a little faster, leaving a trail of dust in their wake. I flew over to where Tora was, and what remained of a restaurant. The pizza joint that it was now had a new type of pepperoni to sell, though purple probably isn't a good color for them.

"Was that all?" he asked, glancing around.

"Somehow I doubt it," I said, flipping on my scouter. It found some more Zerg not two hundred yards away, who were attacking a fleeing crowd.

**-**

The battle inside Satan city went well, for a while. It didn't help to have civilians and army troops to worry about, but since it was mostly Zerglings, it wasn't a big deal since they were so weak. All in all there was about four hundred Zerglings and a few Hydralisks creeping around inside the city, but a combined effort from Gohan and myself managed to get them all out in the open, which led to their quick deaths. Zerglings could hide very well since they were the size of a dog and the Hydras were surprisingly good at camouflaging themselves. However when your body is that big, hiding options are limited. Fleeing and screaming humans usually don't help either. We all breathed a sigh of relief as the scouters picked up no more Zerg inside the city. Until of course, Mom had to beep us on the scouters.

"I don't really want to be the one to tell you guys, but it might be a good idea to eat another Senzu bean right about now!"

Vegeta didn't have the best reaction to this, "What now woman!" I glanced up to see a lot of Zerg flyers all of a sudden, none of them were Overlords.

"Oh nothing Vegeta, its just the fourteen thousand or so Zerg troops coming at you. The ones I warned you about fifteen minutes ago!" My hands went to my pocket right away, there was no way I had enough power to hold many of them off right now. _This is overkill for one city._

"Why didn't you warn us sooner woman?"

"My scanners got taken out where the Zerg started advancing, a trample effect got them. And had you been paying attention, I DID WARN YOU EARLIER!" I heard Vegeta sigh of the scouter as I pulled another bean out and prepared to eat it.

"Fine woman, call that weakling king of yours and tell him this city is a lost cause! We will destroy as many of them as possible before escaping!" That made me stop; Vegeta never gave up a fight, never! Well come to think of it I had seen him stop before when it was fruitless, but we hadn't even taken a shot at the next wave and it seemed like he was throwing in the towel. I ate the bean anyway, deciding to figure this out later. The instant my power had been returned, a large yellow ball of fluid struck the ground in front of me, followed by many more. I looked up as I jumped backwards, seeing legions of guardian crabs in the air, firing their acid spores everywhere. A few unlucky humans around the area got hit and screamed as they dropped to the ground and slowly died. Rage filled me just looking at them, but more than usual.

"I don't know about you Tora, but I found my targets!" I shouted as I felt his ki jump back to level two.

"Boy, you and Tora report to me right now! Do not engage the Zerg until we have a plan!" I heard Vegeta bark over the scouter.

"There's a huge pack of crabs right above our position, I'm gonna take them out!" I replied.

I heard him growl a bit over the scouter speaker, "No brat, get back over here first! They will get theirs in due time, but if we don't use our heads in this we won't survive!"

I narrowed my eyes, "Hey, they're all right here Vegeta! They're already tearing up the ground and buildings and killing the people! I've got to stop them now!"

"Boy you have your orders!"

Tora put a hand on my shoulder, "C'mon kid, we better go before the prince decides to tear out your insides!" I didn't move, instead my rage and anger filled my mind. Pictures of random Zerg killing random people came flowing in, then my friends falling into darkness, namely Gohan, Videl, Mom and Vegeta, and then Fasha. Then I saw Frieza firing a large ki blast, and finally I saw my planet explode again, sealing the deal.

"_You have a chance to change the outcome, don't waste it!_" Kerrigan's last few thoughts rang in clear just as I remembered watching myself kill Fasha in that horrible nightmare of a dream.

"No, I can't let this happen again! I won't let it happen again, NOOOO!" I screamed and powered up on the spot, causing Tora to fall back a bit in surprise.

"Go if you want to, I'm not letting it happen again!" I shouted, blasting off into the air, silver aura trailing behind me.

"Boy, what the hell..." I shut the scouter off at this point, by some miracle I didn't crush it. I felt a bit stronger now for some reason, but I ignored it, I wanted to tear apart some Zerg right now. Yellow bombs of acid and bone filled the air, all raining down on the city. I dodged my way through them and came up to the first guardian crab. It was the first one I had seen up close, and I will admit the things were huge, hell just the crab like claw on the end were big enough to squeeze Broly, in his ultra form. It tried to fire at me, but missed horribly when I dodged aside. I fired a close range ki blast underneath it, puncturing right through and out the other side. The huge crab caught on fire and started to fall from the sky, plunging right into half of a building. I blasted twenty more to pieces around me, killing them off as well. When no more were in close range, I started firing at the ones still coming in, killing them off, then turning and catching the ones behind me as well. Instead of acid spores raining down on the city, pieces of guardian crabs did instead, doing about the same job, just not continuous. Another group approached from the east, and I started shooting them down as well. I noticed that they worked on flying closer to me rather than firing on the city right then and there, as they were well within firing range. Suddenly I spotted a kamikaze flyer pop out of the group and head right for me.

I smirked slightly, "Oh no you don't!" I said, blasting towards it. It dodged aside my first round, causing me to fire another one at it. It wasn't so lucky the second time, and blew up on the spot. Another Scrounge came out and flew towards me. Before I could blast it, something plowed into me from behind. I spun in pain to see it was a third Scrounge, it had snuck up on me. Its skin started to bubble and turn green. I double arm smashed it towards the ground quickly, it blew itself up not a second afterwards. I spun back again, seeing the one I was targeting was ten feet away and flying fast.

"Oh shit!" I gasped, trying to blast it. That didn't do any good at this range, and the damn thing slammed into me just like the first one had, easily breaking a rib or two where it hit. I coughed a bit, seeing blood come out of my mouth. The flyer was busy trying to chew on my armor; its mouth was wide enough to surround my whole midsection in width. I punched it down to the ground, catching my painful breath. I barely looked up in time to see something big slam into my stomach area. Once I recovered from that blow, a shower of green stuff struck my armor. The armor hissed and steamed, and half of it melted right off, exposing the skin beneath. Then I turned to see what must have been a hundred of the damn flyers heading right for me from different angles but otherwise ahead of me. I growled sharply, yanking the rest of the armor off and powering up before deciding to go higher.

"KAIOKEN!" The powerup didn't seem to bother my body in the least like I expected it to, but I didn't care at the time. My aura clicked into view and if anything the Zerg came at me quicker now. The aura though was showing flashes of blue, but I didn't have time to wonder why. I mentally shook it off as the sky color in the surrounding area, though it was rather dark out.

"Not this time you scum!" I shouted, charging ki into my hands and throwing them in front of me, fully outstretched. I threw just about everything into the charge, I wanted to end it now. My attack finished charging quickly, as I had plenty of time to practice this one during training.

"FINAL FLASH!" The big ki beam released once I said the words, and went hurling towards the Zerg advancement. The beam went right through all of them, and then into the massive Zerg cloud behind them. It tore through a path that must have been a half-mile to a mile in diameter, tearing up anything in its path before flying off into space and off of the Earth's curve. Once the light and smoke cleared, I saw what could only make me smile. There wasn't much of a Zerg cloud left now, only the very ends of it remained.

"Eat that, you freaks!" I whispered, huffing and puffing now. My ribs suddenly broke out in overdo pain and I started to get blurry vision. _Guess the Kaioken did damage me a little after all. _Something then smashed into my back and exploded, and I felt it sting the back of my neck. I turned to see what it was, clawing at my neck a bit only to pull back red blood on my gloves. Another something got me from behind again, and then another from the front. My arms and legs didn't respond, so more of the kamikazes kept flying in and killing themselves just to get to me. My ki stopped flowing as my body became more injured, and I fell from the sky. I don't know how far I fell, but I know it hurt like hell when I hit the ground on my back. I groaned and tried to sit up, failing to do so, I was pretty whacked. I tried reaching for my belt, only to discover that my whole left arm was immobile and drenched in blood, not in Zerg blood but my own. I heard a hissing sound nearby, and turned my head to see a huge hydralisk standing over me, almost a grin on its face. Nothing but severe pain hit me when I struggled to get up, so I hoped for a quick end as I couldn't sense anyone else around.

"At least I took some of you bastards with me, go to hell!" I said, giving it the one finger salute with my good arm. It spit its green needles onto my legs, but I couldn't feel the result. Then it raised its huge talon like it was going to take my head clean off. The hydra never started what it was going to do, a large ki blast struck it instead. I started to fade, I was too tired to stay awake, and just as I blacked out I felt two arms hoist me up.

"Serves you right you little brat!"

**Interlude 6.1: The Overmind's chamber**

In a dark chamber that dripped clear slime and had eerie light coming from it. A single large eye watched over its desolate scenery, waiting for his minions. Since most Zerg had virtually no energy to speak of, this being had to rely on evolution to communicate to his forces. Sure he had telepathic communication, but that only worked really well in one on one affairs. With his Zerg broods numbering millions, that just would not work. Before him were large pod like eggs that stuck out of the chamber he was in. These would reshape themselves into the figures he would be speaking too, mostly to his higher sub-ordinates. Sometimes he picked up stray communications outside the Zerg, and his pods could shape themselves into a small video screen and play the audio coming from it. Yes, he was quite glad he had these now, especially since most of his top commanders could not simply run over to him when beckoned, in fact they couldn't walk or run, because they barely had a body that could be mobile. The only thing his Cerebrates could do to move on their own was to have a drone carry its core to their destination and hope it wasn't ambushed. Cerebrates were like miniature versions of himself that he created to command his troops better. Each one of them followed his command without question, and then carried it out in their own special way. Sometimes Cerebrates could be defeated in battle, or to say their Brood could be defeated, Cerebrates could not be killed. Even if the shell they were in was destroyed, he could revive them with a thought, as with all Zerg.

Yes, Cerebrates were extremely loyal, in fact he never had one cross him. However there was one in slight question, actually two. But the one in particular, and ironically it was the one chosen to lead the attack on the Earth, home to the Saiyans. He still had yet to choose a name for this one, as most Cerebrates would receive a name upon birth. This one had been around for nearly fifteen years and still hadn't been called anything but Cerebrate. While this was rare for him to struggle with anything so simple, he felt this one's name would be revealed to him in time. Yes there was something quite special about this one, almost as if there was some sort of hidden spiritual presence that he couldn't detect. When it had first been created, he never found a true purpose outside of its basic training for a good while. Its first real mission was to protect a certain chrysalis the he had created. The shell contained a younger Kerrigan, freshly betrayed by her former comrades in battle against his enemy while she was still human. Technically just using the word human was incorrect, Terran was a much better term, especially for her. He admired her dedication to whatever cause she once foolishly fought for, and decided that once her body was killed, she would become one of his agents. When he eventually got a hold of her, he was amazed to find that she had hidden Psionic ability. She told him that she was the half-breed daughter of the demon King Dabura once he unlocked her buried memories, but he wasn't sure. Who the mother was he did not know, nor did she. His Cerebrate in question had protected her in time of isolation very well, in fact flawlessly. Not one of his enemies got through its defenses to even damage it. When the time was right and she was eventually reborn, the enemies started falling by the legions.

However, ever since she was reborn, the Cerebrate that she served under, sort of went through slight changes in its mind. It still served him without question, but she seemed to tell it what to do as well, even though it would be the one in charge of missions. It was very strange indeed that she could control any other Zerg, never mind a Cerebrate. Now granted the he was busy lately and really hadn't had much contact with his Cerebrate, not with so many other Cerebrates still in space and unable to come down until he was sure they would be safe to land. The latest victory over the Saiyans told him it was now safe. His Cerebrate had been very busy too, trying to keep up with the resistance it ran into and to adapt its strategy and resources. At first, it was typical Terran fashion to fight back against the superior race, after all, the inferior mind tends to believe itself better. But when the Saiyans and other fighters made their entrance, it was a bit stumped on how to handle them at first, and all of its bases outside the perimeter were destroyed quickly. The plan to use infested humans to mentally break them hadn't worked well; apparently they had been in wars like this before. It then entered a hyper sleep type of meditation for a solid day to think things out and come up with a new strategy. It was the first time it had ever been defeated, so its pride was a bit hurt now.

When the Cerebrate reawakened, it had a new plan and a new way to face the Saiyans. While it required a bit of sacrifice, he didn't mind, and had given permission to use whatever means necessary to slowly take over Earth. He was quite pleased on the method the Cerebrate had used, though it cost quite a bit of their perimeter troops at the time and a decent chunk of resources and energy to evolve them into stronger forms. Most of the other Cerebrates had strengthened their broods long ago; this one had still been working with the weaker basic Zerg for the time being because it had never needed to evolve them before. The plan worked well, and the Saiyans were defeated for the first time. Though all of them got away, it had dealt a serious blow to them, and given him valuable information. The Earth forces that they had encountered didn't last very long against Cerebrate's cunning, and the largest Terran city fell into ruins during the battle.

Kerrigan had busied herself while on Earth as well, her first tasks of study and assassination attempts didn't always work out the best, but he expected this from such a strong group of fighters. Lately she had opted out of front line battle, and he had agreed, it was much too dangerous for her to even try to face them at all. Stealthy missions suited her better, rather than massive slaughters. He could feel something strange about her energies right now, like something was amiss. But he didn't question it, she had her moments where it was unwise to disrupt her.

Zasz, the other Cerebrate he was slightly in question about, was still in space. When it got into range of sensing the great Psi power of the older Saiyan, Zasz wanted it badly, as if drawn too it. He knew this would happen once he came across the Saiyans, in fact he fully expected two of his Cerebrates to want to bond with one of the mystical Saiyans. He just found it odd that his best Cerebrate and his youngest unnamed one would be the two candidates for possibly merging with the great Saiyans and creating two very powerful agents to do his bidding. That idea both excited and plagued the Overmind, he wasn't sure if it could be done with any sort of stability or control. He shunned those thoughts aside for the moment though, he would know more once they captured one of them.

Before him, a few of the pod eggs rose and reformed themselves into a few different figures. Three of the figures remained roughly the same, except had slight hints of auras coming off of them. One was purple, his young Cerebrate, one blue, the leading Cerebrate Daggoth, and another orange, Zasz. The last pod formed into a woman like figure, which could only belong to Kerrigan.

"Welcome my children, to earth. As I told you before, this is where we finally gain the power to destroy our enemies, but like all challenges in the past, it will not be easy," he said.

"Great Overmind, put me in charge of capturing the mystical Saiyans! They will be in your grasp in no time!" Zasz hissed slightly. The young Cerebrate shifted slightly, but said nothing to it.

"Why Zasz, so you can claim all of their power for yourself? Good luck in capturing them! I highly doubt you will be successful!" Kerrigan snorted.

"Don't remind us of your failed attempts to capture them on your own! It sickens me greatly that such a fool is even a part of our great race! I should eradicate you myself!" Zasz grunted.

"If you even think to cross me, I'll…" she was quickly interrupted by their superior.

"Children, there is no need for quarrel over who is the best. All of you are equals here, and thus should treat each other with appropriate respect," he said.

"My apologies great Overmind. It is just agitating that her, humph, master, can't keep a better leash on her!" Zasz laughed a bit mockingly at the young Cerebrate, who stayed quiet.

"I act on my own accord Zasz, not to your schedule. And I will do what I feel is in my best interests!" she snapped. Zasz attempted to fire back at her with verbal assault, but the master soothed his minion instead.

"Let her be Zasz, Kerrigan is free to do what she chooses to do so long as it doesn't interfere with our plans. What is the status on the two Saiyans young Cerebrate? Have you been able to sense their hidden power come forth?" the Overmind asked. The Cerebrate took a minute to answer that, he always seemed a bit nervous about these group meetings, especially with his two brothers there. Daggoth was an excellent commander and quite helpful at times of advice, but quite often left him to figure out the problem on his own, which was correct. Zasz however always gave him pause of torment, even though he had only failed once. No doubt Zasz would never leave him alone for it, or perhaps it was old wounds that were formed.

"The two Saiyans are starting to feel the call, their pure rage is drawing on their deepest power now. I do not believe they can fully use this power as of yet, and in a few days I will be ready to assault their base city. Unless of course you wish me to take the rest of the lands around the former large city?"

"No, head straight for their base of operations! I want those two captured before they discover their deepest powers. If at all possible I would prefer to infest them first, to bend them to our will!" The Overmind spoke in such a double deep voice that it frightened the young Cerebrate sometimes.

"And beware young Cerebrate, the other fighters will not simply let them go. Destroying them may not be the answer either. Saiyans tend to harbor deep emotional bonds with their comrades, and Saiyan rage is hard to battle against, no matter how many numbers we have. The youngest Saiyan's sudden burst of power was very unexpected and it may interfere with our plans if he is able to harness the power I fear he may have. I suggest you meditate before harvesting your battle plan, you are excused now," the Overmind blinked once to signal that, and the pod deformed into an egg again.

"Are you sure its wise to entrust him to such a task sire? It is one of the more important tasks of our cause!" Daggoth asked.

"Humph, what typical Cerebrates you two are, rest assured he will succeed in the mission. You two just sit back and relax in the sun like usual!" Kerrigan said, grunting slightly.

"And you should learn to respect your greaters!" Zasz fired back. The Overmind rolled his one large eye and sighed, these two would go on forever with their spats if he never stopped them.

One time, about eight years ago, the spat didn't just end in council. Zasz tried to simply kill her to shut her up. This ended up quite interesting, as it pitted Zasz's brood against the younger Cerebrate's brood. Obviously he wouldn't just let him kill her, being so connected as he was, and fought him back. Despite the superior brood of Zasz, the younger Cerebrate had more forces and a sound battle plan against other Zerg. While Zasz was trying to kill off the young Cerebrate's great defenses, he left his own wide open. Kerrigan snuck in and killed Zasz quite craftily, as none of his brood even saw her come in, and he was usually the careful one when it comes to battles. The Overmind waited a few days before reviving Zasz, to give him something to think about when trying to kill such a cunning agent. This wasn't one of the times he was going to allow this to go out of control however.

"Silence, both of you!" They quickly shut up, not before last second remarks of course.

"Whore!"

"Asshole!"

"Now then, Zasz and Daggoth will descend with the rest of the broods and nest up on the Eastern continent where we are currently located. I suggest you all rest afterwards, as I know space travel can make everybody edgy, you are excused!" The pods then shaped back into eggs, leaving the Overmind by himself once again. But he was never alone, not when he commanded the eternal will of his Swarms, and with this in mind he closed his one eye and fell into deep sleep.

**A/n: ****Zasz**** sounds like Sauce with a Z instead of an S when pronounced correctly, just an FYI if you never played Starcraft.**


	8. A Step Back

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 7: A Step Back**

After I awoke in the healing tank water, I got a slight grip on what I had done. That and it made it a bit easier when I finally got out of it, Vegeta looked ready to kick my ass then and there. But strangely he didn't, instead he just kept the scowl of the decade on, handed me a towel, and watched the other tank. Inside of it was Gohan, and instantly questions filled my mind.

"If you're wondering, Gohan went off the handle as well, and Satan City is toast," he grumbled.

"You mean he snapped like I did?" I asked, fully remembering what I had done and said and gulping slightly.

"I wouldn't say snapped, he just lost control over his actions during the battle like a fool. He rushed to the front lines to fight anything that moved, kind of like you did. No, snapped is what he did to Cell," Vegeta explained.

"Well for what its worth, sorry about that. I really don't know what came over me. I was seeing random pictures I'd rather not say, and I saw my home world exploding again, and after that I just lost it," I looked at the ground now.

"Well, normally when a Saiyan disobeys his commander, one of two things happen. He defeats the enemy and comes back alive, then gets killed, or he dies in battle," Vegeta let his voice rise a little bit. I cringed and backed up a step.

He suddenly smirked slightly, "But you're not normal, and the fact that it happened to both of you strikes me as odd. Seems both of you are starting to awaken your deeper strength with your rage, and without proper training it can consume you."

I relaxed slightly, before another question hit me, "So what happened after I went down?"

Vegeta grunted again, "Well I dare say that I thought we wouldn't have to deal with many more Zerg. The woman was instantly on the scouter asking me why about most of the Zerg troops suddenly vanished out of the air. Well over half of them."

I grinned, "I took that many out with that blast?"

"Seems you know my finishing move quite well now, maybe you're ready to develop your own. The foolish Zerg were pretty lined up for you, the rest of us worked on clearing the people out of the city as the Zerg started to nestle in and infest the whole place, buildings and all. Gohan lost it when he was trying to save a few people only to see them get killed right in front of his face. Broly attempted to calm him down, until he attacked him. It took all of us to calm him down before he finally weakened, then we got him knocked unconscious and brought him back here. Your mate brought you here shortly before that," he explained, his arms folded.

"Why didn't you just give me a Senzu bean or allow Dende to heal me?"

"Two reasons. First of all, Saiyan power increases more if your healed slowly rather than instantly, and the other reason, well Dende couldn't do much about disfigurement," Vegeta grinned evilly at this thought. I raised an eyebrow, giving him the confused look.

"You lost a hand, a foot and part of your tail. The latter two were hanging by threads, happy now?" he asked.

"Guess that explains why they feel a little funny now," I said, moving all my limbs and swishing my tail slightly.

"You said Satan City was toast, not infested?" I asked.

"A little parting gift I gave to the Zerg base that was going up there while we were busy with Gohan, you could say it was a big bang of a party," he grinned. _That was so lame, it's almost funny. _

"How long have we been under anyway?"

"Day and a half, the healing tank has a better time with missing limbs then it does with infections and deep wounds."

"Got that right, you're lucky to be alive kid," Mom said from behind me, she had just entered the room. I glanced behind me to see that she wasn't in her armor, just the bodysuit, and she looked rather exhausted.

"Woman, go back to bed, I can handle things here!" Vegeta grunted.

"Maybe so, but when you don't come to bed by two in the morning, I'm a bit concerned, training or not. But I think its sweet you actually took the time to watch over the boys. Aw, you really do care for them don't you?" she asked. I grinned slightly, but didn't let Vegeta see it.

"I do not! I just need them in fighting shape for the next battle!" Vegeta said, storming out of the room and down the hall.

"Works every time!" she danced a bit at the idea before just laughing herself silly. She glanced at me and quickly remembered something, "Sorry about that, here's some new clothes!" she tossed me a capsule. Inside I found the usual box for armor and suit materials, except no belt and holster this time, and the bodysuit was blue instead of silver.

"Kinda ran out of silver, sorry bout that, but it's the same material. I saved your weapon and belt from last time. By the way, what happened for you to go off the edge like Vegeta said?"

"I don't really know, he said to retreat so we could think up a plan, and I seemed to lose it. I was imagining the Zerg destroying things, then other pictures came up, then my old planet blowing up, and I lost it and fought the Zerg by myself," I explained.

"Well, if you lost like Vegeta said, I guess I can blame you for wiping out about seven or eight thousand of the beasts in one shot. Just be careful next time mister, or I'll get Chichi to pull out the you know what!" she threatened. I cringed slightly under fear of the metal object of terror.

"Now get up to bed rug rat, I'll need your help in the morning!" she said as she gave me a little shove from behind, sending me on my way. I came up to my dark and silent room a few minutes later, taking a quick peek at the Zerg monitor. It showed quite an advance since the battle in Satan City, but they weren't spreading like they could have been. Instead they were making almost a straight line in a westward direction. Then I looked at their current path, more importantly the cities in their path. There weren't very many, until my eyes came to a stop across the words West City.

"Great," I whispered. I noticed a new clock in the corner of the map that was slowly counting down. It was currently saying forty-one and a half hours until arrival. Doing the math real fast, a little more than a day and a half before they arrived, assuming they didn't speed up, which they easily could. I walked in with all this in mind, seeing the sleeping Fasha sprawled out on my bed. I slowly took off my armor, gloves and boots, carefully sliding on the edge of the bed so not to disturb her sleep. Lying on my side on the edge of the bed, my mind and body remained on edge, thinking about how we were going to stop the Zerg. A hand crept around my stomach and pulled me back suddenly until I brushed against her hardened figure, startling me to no end at this point.

"About time you little brat, I can't sleep worth a shit without you around!"

"Gee thanks I feel so loved," I said, dripping with sarcasm.

"You should, not many women would wait for their mates like this. But I'm not in a dieing mood so I'll put up with your bratty behavior!" Fasha whispered in my ear, latching onto my tail. One perk about sleeping with a Saiyan woman, you don't have trouble sleeping, unless you're full grown that is.

-

I found out exactly why Mom needed my help in the morning, quite early I might add. Even though the whole crew got up around the same time, Vegeta had everyone except myself and Gohan head out to slow the Zerg down. While Mom had plenty of help around Capsule Corp right now, Vegeta wanted Gohan and I to stay behind this time, to avoid losing it like we did. So while Gohan spent some much needed time with Videl and his mother, I assisted Mom in setting up an automated defense system. I got to do the heavy lifting and help crawl through the small wiring holes while she programmed them all, pretty simple way to do it, or so she thought. Problem was I had to leave my scouter on the entire time just to ask her which wire to plug in where, bumping it into the walls constantly with the blasted thing. The other problem was the wiring itself.

"Does this connect to red or blue, and what the hell is this one?" I asked.

"White goes to red, black to blue, green to yellow!" she answered. Once I crawled out and we were done, I checked over her little presents. They were automated miniguns with her new lasers and were all lined up in several layers all around the compound. No doubt Dr. Briefs was doing a similar thing over in the other building since most of the manufacturing was going on there. Not only did she have these miniguns all over the yards, she also had them sticking out of windows, sitting there for someone to aim them. _Damn and I thought the last fight was nasty, this is gonna be insane. _

"Okay kid, I don't really need you now. Go get some food, you earned it!" she winked at me while holding a large wrench in her hands. I found myself talking to Gohan and Videl for most of the afternoon, while chowing down some food of course.

"What made you guys fly off the handle like Vegeta said anyway?" Videl asked. Gohan seemed to hesitate, he obviously didn't want to talk about that. I couldn't blame him either, the subject was hard on me as well. _Doesn't anyone spread the word around here?_

"He probably went through about the same thing I did. I saw random pictures of people dying to the Zerg, then not so random pictures of the same, and then I saw Frieza and my old planet blowing up. After that I was too full of rage to listen to anyone," I explained.

Gohan nodded his head grimly, "I had a similar occurrence, only mine involved Cell as well. After that the power consumed me and I didn't know who was enemy and who wasn't."

Videl looked a bit concerned at this, "Why would both of you have similar visions right in the middle of a fight like that, it doesn't make sense?"

"I think Vegeta was right about us Verto, our hidden powers are coming out more now. We can't focus them very well because it takes so much anger and rage to pull them out," he said in a lower tone.

"Yeah, it makes sense, and the Zerg want it so bad that they're coming sooner and sooner than expected. It's almost like their trying to beat us to it so to speak, trying to get to us before everything cuts loose. My question is why is our emotional control breaking down in the middle of a battle. I know I was totally focused on the objective before that happened," I said.

"Good question, or perhaps we're not in control like we thought. You yourself haven't trained a whole lot since being upgraded, and in reality I haven't either, that might be part of it. Do you think Dad and Vegeta are right and the Kais are wrong, is it really possible to break the wall and become Super Saiyans while in our mystic forms?"

"I don't know, but that may explain why we can't control it very well, they both told me that it would be impossible to do. But if we pulled it off then it would outmatch anything in the universe, and probably destroy us at the same time. They did not seem to be one hundred percent about it. We were the first Saiyans Old Kai has ever done this too," I explained.

"Old Kai told me that too. If we're really that powerful, then how are we going to harness it without losing control again?" he asked.

"It might have something to do with the power itself. We haven't ever been so mad that the whole wall comes crashing down and fully released our hidden strength. If it's really this Psi energy that they all have drilled into my head, then maybe it's easier to come around during that. Only problem is that if you or I ever get that mad again, it may not matter if we get a grip on it or not. We'll be too pissed off to care!"

"Videl. When the Zerg get here, please stay out of the battle," Gohan said, changing subject suddenly.

"But why Gohan, those damn things destroyed my home too, and I'll make em pay!" _Too feisty for her own good._

"Videl, please, do it for me. I can't bear to think about what I'm gonna do without you should you get hurt out there, plus the baby," he said, holding his eyes shut now.

"Yeah Videl, stay out of it," I said sternly.

"Oh, you guys are no fun!"

"Thanks," Gohan smiled a bit, getting up. I followed as he and I walked back towards the lobby, renamed the command center. All of the gang that wasn't fighting were sitting around in random places in the large building. Oolong, Puar, Yamcha and Roshi stuck to cards like glue, they really needed to get the Zerg off their minds anyway. Goten and Trunks were in the gravity room, something I found a bit surprising, but then I hadn't seen much of them lately. No doubt they wanted to show their dads that they could fight too. The huge Ox King, Chichi, Videl, Eighteen and her little girl Marron usually stayed in the lounge or something, general chitchat going on there. Popo stuck around in the kitchen, he didn't know what else he could do around here except cook with Chichi, but he was pretty good at it. Yajirobi had a pretty hefty job to do; he had to water Senzu bean plants that he brought back from Korin's place. As much as Goku tried to convince the cat master to come, he was unsuccessful, no doubt the cat felt safer in the clouds. Chiaotzu grimly watched TV, mostly checking reports that always came in for the Zerg. He always seemed a bit distant anyway, and he rarely showed his face unless Tien was around, so we never bothered him. Dende and Mom hung around in the lobby; mostly anyway. Sometimes she would need to tend to her lab for whatever she was working on at the time. The young guardian stood like a statue sometimes, watching the holographic screen and no doubt hoping the Zerg would just leave, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. At times he would just sit and meditate with a huge frown on his face, like he was struggling with something in his thoughts, but then he probably had a tough time with the massive genocide currently taking place.

"What's going on Dende?" Gohan asked.

"Just the same, Zerg attacking and more innocent people getting killed, this has got to stop," he whispered, I could almost see a tear forming in his eyes. Then I realized why, Dende had a special connection with everyone on the planet, because he was the guardian. He once told me that he could see into the future just a little bit, just enough to see who was going to die next and pass to the next world, the job had its benefits and curses.

"We know Dende, we're going to stop them. We just need to figure out how," Gohan said.

"I know, I'd tell you to both use the time chamber, but it's a bit too late for that right now. The Zerg took over the lookout's area yesterday, so even if you got into the chamber, there's no guarantee you could get out of it," he explained.

"I just hope we can figure out our hidden powers before its too late," Gohan said.

"So do I," Dende looked down and replied.

-

Vegeta and the others came back late in the day, covered in Zerg blood and their own, looking quite ragged out.

"So what's the verdict?" Gohan asked Goku.

"There's so many of them out there, I don't know if this is a fight we can win," Goku looked disturbed at that thought.

"It may not be, but we're not going to sleep on that thought Kakarot! We fight until we die!" Bardock said to his son. Goku looked at his father with hopeful, teary eyes and nodded slightly.

"Well you guys took some of the sting out of that massive overkill coming this way, but not nearly enough. There's still tons of them out there and still coming!" Mom said from the screen.

"How many, estimated?" I asked.

"There was five hundred thousand of them when they started gathering and then coming this way. Everywhere they have crossed they left behind one of those canal things, they're obviously planning to go all out with this battle. We managed to cut that number down vastly, but unfortunately we ran out of Senzu beans before we could even get halfway through them," Tora explained, wiping purple Zerg blood from his silver suit.

"So about how many Mom?"

"About three hundred and seventy-five thousand or so now. You got them down to seventy-five percent of what was there, and they're about a day from arriving in the city. I think it's pretty obvious that course isn't going to be changing, so I suggest everyone get a good meal and a good night's sleep tonight. Tonight and tomorrow we need to get everyone who won't be fighting out of the city. If we don't then they're just lambs to the slaughter!" Mom said in a raised tone as she picked up the phone to relay the message. _Over three hundred thousand for one big attack? Shit!_

"Mr. Mayor, start the evacuation of the city, everyone who won't be fighting needs to get a move on now. You have one day until the Zerg arrive from the east, and please send whoever wants to fight over here to Capsule Corp so we can equip them properly. Yeah, good luck!" _She sure does handle herself well during these stressful times. _

I began to think about how this battle was going to go, and how many people were going to die, that idea in itself made me sick, and some general anger at those thoughts arose. A strange feeling suddenly hit me, not painful, it was more like a ki sense thing, but it was definitely different, and I felt it coming off Gohan. It felt more like there were the equivalent of two Gohan's there, one made of ki, one of something else, but yet both were coming from the same source. I turned my head to look at him, only to see him looking right back at me, the same confused look on his face. No one else was turning their heads in wonder, so apparently only I could sense it, and maybe Gohan as well.

"_Okay, what the hell was that?"_ he asked through telepathic communication while Mom and Vegeta were discussing something with the others.

"_You got me man, are you doing that?!" _I asked.

"_No I'm not doing anything, I thought you were. This is too weird Verto, these sudden power surges are getting annoying,"_ he said, agitated.

"_Yeah but they seem a bit familiar, to me anyway. Shortly before I turned Super Saiyan for the first time, I had some wicked nightmares and power surges coming out of nowhere. Did you ever go through that before?"_

"_Actually yes, I did, a lot of them too. Mostly because Dad was encouraging it, but even then my dreams were maddening, and I've always had a problem with power surges ever since Uncle Raditz showed up._" I could almost feel him getting a bit sickened by the thought of his late uncle.

"_It's gotta be our hidden Psi power, especially if only you and I sensed it. Does it feel like there's two of me or something?" _

"_Yeah something like that, the other one is a bit on the blurry side now that you've calmed yourself. You looked a bit ticked off there for a second,_" he said.

"_You weren't exactly Mr. Happy you know Gohan. But either way, is this a good thing or a bad thing?" _

"_You got me." _

"_I hate to intrude on a private conversation, but everyone is staring at you two!"_ Piccolo's burly voice came into my thoughts, slamming the connection shut. I glanced around to see exactly that.

"Anything good to talk about brats, that you couldn't pay attention?" Vegeta smirked slightly, "Debating on who's mate looks better in a thong no doubt!"

Blush city hit Gohan and I with lightning speed, "NO!" we shouted together.

"I thought he would be too young again to have those kind of thoughts, maybe we can do something other than sleep after all," Fasha laughed from across the room, rubbing her hands together.

"Well, had you been in the conversation, rather than off in space, you would have heard me ask you to join us in the battle tomorrow. We're going to need the extra power! I will be planning the defense of the city until then, dismissed!" Vegeta barked. I shook my head in slight embarrassment that Gohan and I were a bit caught up in our own conversation to notice all that, then headed up the stairs for the bed. Fasha went to wash up first, before coming in as well, wearing only a towel at the time.

"Losing your head a little bit lover?"

"I guess so. No, me and Gohan were having a bit of a conversation concerning our hidden strength. We didn't realize everyone was staring at us, didn't you hear us?" I asked.

"No I didn't hear a word, I thought you were blocking me out somehow. Oh well, I guess I win the thong contest then!" she said, dropping the towel to the floor. The rational thoughts vanished as I sucked in a deep breath, and felt a bit glad and sad at the same time. On one hand, I wasn't going to jump at her right there, but then I couldn't enjoy it either.

I grinned slightly, "You have to be wearing one first Fasha."

"Oh so I look better in one then without?" _Damn you and your tricky questions without clothes on!_ I rolled my eyes slightly, dropping to my back on the bed. She dressed in her now washed bodysuit and got into the bed as well, leaving the blankets off since we needed to be ready at any time to go fight. Outside my window, I could hear all kinds of car horns and police CV's going nuts, part of the evacuation no doubt.

"What's wrong, brat?" she asked.

"Just thinking about all those people out there, how many of them are going to lose their lives tomorrow. How many of us might die, how am I going to fight them again. I can't control my deeper power yet; I might destroy someone else by mistake if I lose it again, or one of us. I'll never forgive myself if I do," I said as I felt the tears coming, no Saiyan pride was going to hold it back today.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, you always have right? Quit worrying, that's not good for a Saiyan warrior to be thinking about. A Saiyan should only be looking forward to his next battle, not moping about the collateral damage. Besides, I can't go to sleep with a crying baby next to me, so shut up will ya?" she smiled a bit and held me close to her. I stopped welling up like a river, a bit relieved that she was with me in tough times like this.

"I just wish the path I'm taking is the right one, and hopefully something will show me what to do when the time comes," I whispered.

"You will, now quit speaking! Your crying tongue is making me sick!" She grabbed my tail to prove a point, virtually silencing any further thoughts about the Zerg and about family, only warm fuzziness.


	9. Gotenks Returns

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 8: Gotenks returns**

The next day was summed up with one simple word: hectic. We spent most of the morning helping with the evacuation, mostly because the traffic jams had caused multi-car pile-ups. The military was a bit overwhelmed with getting everyone out of the city and patrolling at the same time. After most of the civilians that were going to leave were gone and out of the city, Vegeta met with the military heads to discuss how the battle was going to go. Simply put, anyone who wasn't on the Special Forces team would stick by Capsule Corp and fight there should the Zerg get past. Most of the troops wanted to fight on the front lines so the city wouldn't be harmed, but Vegeta would have none of it, everyone knew the city was going to get torn up, and badly. Besides that little fact, the human fighters would be much more effective back and around home base, which now looked like a fort with all of the defense systems that Mom set up. Everyone got divided into the same teams again, Tora and I were to hold up an air position a bit North and East of home by about three miles, right above downtown, Seventeen and Buu would be on the ground there. Ahead of that area would be Gohan and Broly, who was still not very happy about Gohan jumping him like he did. Oddly enough, he had no room to talk about rage and insanity. South of them would be Goku and Vegeta, followed by Borgos and Shugesh. Bardock and Fasha were further to the south side of the city, as were the other earth fighters. After taking a tactical sweep of the area we'd be fighting in, everyone went back home to wait out the Zerg, who were still advancing slowly but surely.

At first Seventeen and Buu were going to remain in front of us, however Tora and I noticed something we could do to back them up. By shooting out the lower base of the large buildings there, we could get them to topple in any direction and right down on the Zerg. Not only would we smash a bunch of them, but also it would hinder their movement on the ground. Since Gohan and Broly would be closer to the edge of the city, it was a pretty good bet that we could slow the Zerg down dramatically. Everyone was handed four more Senzu beans early on, but that's all that were left of them. Four o'clock in the afternoon passed by and the Zerg were still about one hundred miles out. Random soldiers paced around the compound and also manned the many weapons Mom set up around the buildings, not everything was automated. Around six o'clock I saw Chichi walking around the place for a while, looking for something with a general scowl on her face. After she went through the lobby three times, she finally stopped, classic death glare all over her face.

"Where are those two?"

"Who Chichi?" Goku asked.

"The boys of course, Goten and Trunks! They were playing with Marron in the backyard and now I can't find them anywhere!" I searched out their energy, quickly finding it as it was higher than most humans and they weren't around anyone else at the time. I picked them up on the far east side of the city, even Marron's smaller ki showed up clear as day. Eighteen shot her head up in alarm when she finally detected it.

"Great, what are those little brats doing this time?" Vegeta muttered, heading for the door. The loud alarms went off suddenly, the bright red lights went off everywhere.

"Crap, the Zerg are almost here! Everyone to your posts in the city!" Vegeta shouted.

"What about the boys, and Marron?" Videl asked before anyone else could. Eighteen was out the door pretty damn fast, being android I couldn't detect her energy, but it was pretty obvious where she was going.

"It's in me and the kid's area, we'll get em out before the Zerg get here! C'mon kid!" Tora motioned for me to follow quickly. With that said, everyone flew off to their respective areas, Gohan and Broly flew ahead of us. As I took off into the sky, I noticed very dark and red colored clouds approaching from the east, as if to darken the skies before hell is unleashed.

"Hey Mom, what is with the clouds?" I asked through the scouter.

"_I don't know, they started showing up once the Zerg got within fifty miles. It might be something of theirs, something they will do is block out the sun and sky. That will make solar powered things run out of power. I've got plenty of generators here, but anything not connected to them is going to stop working!_"

"Alright, I haven't used the gun at all anyway," I said, shutting off the scouter and following the vapor trail that Eighteen had left behind. Dodging between buildings, I got a good look at the horizon. Even under the dark red clouds I could see a different cloud, a very massive one stretching in either direction, south mostly.

"There they are Tora!" I pointed out.

"Great, listen kid, you go help her find those three, I'll hold post here. We can't allow the Zerg to get far, go now!" he ordered. I powered up some more, catching up with Eighteen pretty quickly. The determination coming off her face rivaled a mad Chichi, so naturally I was a bit cautious.

"I don't really need your help you know," she said coldly.

"You're getting it anyway, I don't wanna see Marron get hurt either," I said, "And it won't happen."

She smiled slightly at this, "I see not all of you Saiyans are the cold bloodthirsty fighters!"

"You should know me by now, let's go!" I said. We made a beeline for the boy's ki signal, dodging buildings that were in the way.

**-**

When Eighteen and I landed near where we sensed the boys, she was immediately flustered a bit.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What is with that energy I sense, it doesn't seem natural?!" she asked. I scanned around, slowly picking up the scattered ki of the Zerg from afar. I wasn't surprised, she hadn't been around them much. I checked their general location, until I got a trace of it nearby, more specifically, right beneath our feet.

"That's Zerg energy, or lack thereof. I know it feels weird, it looks like they're burrowing beneath the surface again, meaning they could pop out anywhere!" I stopped my explanation in my tracks. _Oh no, that means,_ my hand went to the scouter in a flash.

"Hey everyone, you might wanna get everyone armed up there, the Zerg are burrowing beneath the ground again!" I practically screamed into it. There was plenty of commotion coming over the airwaves after I said that, followed by confirmation. When Eighteen started marching forward to continue her search, the boys' suddenly suppressed their ki. Now we had to search for Marron's much smaller signal, since she couldn't manipulate energy. There were so many Zerg around that it messed up the power sensing. The ground started shaking, and directly beneath it we heard a roar of running, like a stampede. As quickly as it began, it ended, leaving a slightly clearer feeling in the air. Right away a manhole cover popped open and flew into the air. I blasted the cover apart in the air just by instinct, ready to fight whatever was about to pop out. Imagine my slight disappointment when a tiny white flag popped out instead, waving back and forth with a very human looking hand beneath it.

"We surrender we surrender!" a familiar voice shouted before popping his head up. His fearful face flowed back into angry when he saw it was just Eighteen and I.

"Hey no fair, I thought you were army guys or something!" Trunks said, jumping out of the sewer entrance. He reached in and helped someone's tiny arm to get out, belonging to little Marron. Goten was right behind her, and all three stood before us, all of them very dirty and smelled slightly from the sewers. Marron went screaming to her mother first, who complied quickly by picking her up.

"I'd punish you two, but we don't have the time. Thanks for helping me find them Verto!" Eighteen said, lifting into the air and blasting off towards Capsule Corp very quickly. I watched her fly off before turning to the two boys.

"Get going, before the Zerg get here!"

"No way, were gonna fight too!" Trunks declared.

"Yeah, they can't beat the two of us!" Goten added.

"Listen you two, if they can do what they did to me, well imagine what they could do to you as well. Just get going, if they end up on the compound you're probably going to get a chance to fight them anyway!"

"No, we don't want to go! Who's gonna make us?" Trunks claimed.

"You know I could, don't push it!"

"Well you couldn't if we did a trick instead, let's do it Trunks!" Goten said, jumping to his friends' side. Then they lined up perfectly and started stepping close and moving their arms into position.

"Fu, sion….HA!" The golden light blinded me momentarily as the wind picked up and blew everything around. As the warrior started to emerge, I sensed something gathering all around us. When Gotenks finally came into view, in Super Saiyan mode, I got a grip on a higher power level that came off him.

"Impressed? I hope so, I'm stronger than ever!" he said in his doubled voice.

"I won't argue that point," I said, glancing around to see what just arrived.

"So, guess I pass the test then! I'll take it from here!" he said, stepping forward. I scowled, but while his enhanced power was around, it would take some of the heat off of us. _Might as well let him do some damage, it'll save me a little trouble._

"Fine, but when you defuse, get the hell out of here!" I said, powering up as the familiar snarl of Zerglings hit my ears, and my eyes. Gotenks launched forward with a playful laugh, tackling a Zergling on the spot, spinning with it on the ground and throwing it into the air. He met it about fifty feet in the air and smacked it back to earth with a double axe handle. The Zergling hit the ground and almost deflated as blood spilled out of it, definitely dead.

"Hahaha, that was easy! Are they all this weak?" he asked, drifting towards the ground with a very Vegeta like grin plastered on his face. To my surprise, the Zerglings ignored me and focused their attention upon the fused Super Saiyan, swarming up around him, some not even three feet away from me.

Gotenks was still more than ready, "It seems its friends didn't like that, too bad, because now they get to have some fun too!" _God damnit, this cocky brat really gets on my nerves!_ I glanced towards the east to see more Zerg arrive, a lot on the ground and even more in the air.

"Hey Gotenks, I'm gonna cover the flyers coming in. Don't let anything on the ground get past okay?" I shouted, rising into the air to meet the Mutalisk dragons that were flying in first.

"Yeah yeah, this'll be a cinch!"

**Interlude 8.1 -Gotenks vs. the Zerg-**

After Verto took off into the air, Gotenks took most of his time mocking the Zerg as they arrived. A few Zerglings dove at him, only to get beat up right away and killed quickly. Gotenks finished off one with a simple knife-edge chop, before looking up at the pack forming ahead of him.

He held up a hand and waved it, "Next!" The Zerg finally got tired of seeing their comrades being beaten so easily, and rushed forward to the fused child. Gotenks eyes lit up slightly, and his grin got wider, "About time!"

He then flew through the advancing Zerglings, punching and kicking from side to side, knocking whatever he hit into the air with thunderous blows. From outside, the view of this looked like rows of Zerglings flying in the air like they were stepping on land mines, with one bright glow moving back and forth, not missing one. Since there were so many, his punches and kicks had to be faster and not quite as strong, therefore he wasn't killing them upon impact, but it did injure most of them. When he reached the end one such time, a Hydralisk stood perched before him, hissing with its huge jaws salivating.

"Whoa, that's a big one! Wanna play?" Gotenks smirked and dropped into a fighting stance. The Hydra spit its green needles at him instead, hitting his arm.

"Ow, what the hell were those you freak? Just for that I'm gonna make this slow!" Gotenks sped forward, barely missing the huge talon the hydra swung at him, and smacked the hydra in the back of the head with a backhand. The hydra rocked forward and fell, smacking the ground with its face. Gotenks saw this and laughed crazily at this sight. There wasn't a particular reason, he just thought it was funny. So did the hundred or so Zerglings that had circled up around him again.

Gotenks stopped laughing but kept his grin wide, "Ah, some more huh?" he asked, grabbing the hydra's huge tail. Then he swung the creature around him in slow, but soon fast circles, hitting every Zergling that got a bit too close and almost taking their heads off with the mass of the hydra plus his swinging speed. Once the Zerglings became smart enough to stay back, Gotenks simply swung the hydra one more time, this time into the far distance until no one could see it anymore.

"Guess he went for a ride, I wonder where he will land?" Gotenks put a finger to his chin to think that one over. When he did this, several Zerglings swarmed up around him and jumped on him right there, clawing and biting for all they were worth. That didn't last too long, as his golden aura surged and he pushed them all off.

"Look what you did, you scared my landmark legend of a face! Oh that is it! Super Saiyan three!" He gathered his power and pushed it into himself, spreading his Super Saiyan power for all his was worth. His muscles bulged two about twice their original massive state, his hair grew long to his waist, and his eyebrows vanished. The Zerg backed up a little bit, the large ki coming off of him was no doubt making them think a little bit, if they could that is. Once his transformation was completed though, they all rushed in again. A few of them collided with each other, hitting nothing but air.

"Haha, your moves are so predictable! I coulda dodged that in my normal form!" Gotenks claimed. Then he charged ki into his hands and started blasting, taking out Zerglings right and left.

"Man these things are easy, why are they even a threat?" he asked no one in particular. More Zerg arrived, more Hydralisks this time, making him have to up the power just a bit to take them out, but that wasn't a big deal.

"Well, at least there's plenty to give me a good workout!" he muttered, and kept blasting. Just as he took out the hydra group, more arrived, this time mixed in with Zerglings, and this time it took more than one small ki blast to kill them.

"Wow, I guess there are a few tougher ones around!" he said, grinning slightly and firing more massive balls of explosive ki into the Zerg crowds. More Zerg spilled in, making him wonder if they were going to stop coming in or not. He had already wiped out what appeared to be four squads of them, and it looked like numbers six and seven were going to be arriving shortly. His energy started to get a bit low, so he powered up just a bit more to keep up the effort.

Ten more minutes passed by, and Gotenks was getting tired of blasting them. Ahead he had wiped out what looked like thousands of Zerg, at least by his count, and more were spilling in, quickly. It was all he could do to keep them at least five feet away from him at all times at all angles. He wiped out another Hydralisk only to be greeted by silence.

"About time, I thought they'd never end," he muttered, lifting into the air. The ground shook slightly and a large elephant-like creature came tearing around the corner.

"Hello," he said in surprise. The Ultralisk barreled straight towards Gotenks with its tusks out front, knocking all the dead Zerg aside and ready to tear the fused warrior apart.

"Okay big guy, you want it that bad? Cosmic Halo!" he shouted, forming a ring like disc and throwing it around the Ultralisk. The elephant Zerg looked at the ring, turning its head slightly in wonder before Gotenks squeezed things together and held the elephant with his ki ring. The Ultralisk cried out in pain, struggling to get free.

"Wow you really are pretty weak, even Majin Buu got out of this one!" Gotenks didn't bother to add that he had only used it on Buu. The elephant-like creature kept its response of grunting and wailing in pain as the ring squashed it more and more.

"Hurts doesn't it? I'd ease up on ya, but this is too funny watching your stomach trying to come out your butt! HAHAHA!" The elephant moaned and groaned for several more minutes, until Gotenks seemed to get bored with his prey, and more Zerg started coming in, drawing his attention away. He finally let the ki ring cut right through the Ultralisk, cutting it in half and watching all of the insides come spilling out.

"That is so cool!" he declared proudly, before turning to see the next Zerg. It was more hydras this time, making Gotenks shake his head in disappointment.

"Oh please, didn't I beat up all of these already?" They started spitting needles, making Gotenks dodge away as he gathered energy for his next attack.

"Oh I gotta use this one!" Then he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and his cheeks swelled slightly. "Super Ghost Kamikaze attack!"

Several white ghosts came flying out of Gotenks' mouth, already formed and ready to go, as he had a lot of time to practice his fusion form. After he spit out about fifty of them, he had them line up and barked out orders as the Zerg stood back and watched his army.

"See all the creepy crawlies around here, they're the enemy, mess em up!" With that said, the ghosts flew off in random directions, heading straight for the Zerg, whose force had quadrupled in size since he had last looked at them, but it didn't matter. The Zerg tried to attack, and naturally paid for it, as they had never seen the attack before. After many Zerg were left lying with their fellow dead, the ground shook again, and another elephant came around the corner. Gotenks smiled slightly, before getting a good look at the beast. This one was a bit different though. First of all it was a bit bigger than the previous one and its tusks looked more developed. Its skin looked like steel, and it ran with great speed. Gotenks shrugged and fired a small ki blast. The blast exploded without any effect, making Gotenks take another look.

"Okay, so you're a bit tougher huh? Well that's fine, I've been meaning to use this attack!" Gotenks brought his arms behind him and started charging the blast. The elephant only grunted at him and walked slowly up.

"Super Wonderful Legendary blast Times fifty!" he said, making up the name for the gold beam that was forming. Then his whole body flashed with gold, and then it faded, as did the Super Saiyan glow. Goten and Trunks still held a small blast behind them, not realizing the other was there until they tried to fire the massive blast, to no avail.

"Oh no Trunks, we split already! We were doing Super Saiyan three too long!" Goten whined.

"Yeah I know Goten, its just that we have big grumpy here who didn't even flinch at a ki blast. Man, I won't wanna have to fight this thing without using energy!"

"Then let's do a double Kamehameha!"

"Yeah, good idea!" The Ultralisk stepped a bit closer, sniffing the air slightly as it didn't quite understand the one target had turned into two. Both boys went Super Saiyan and stood side-by-side, stretching arms toward each other.

"Ka, me, ha, me, HAAA!" Both shouted, firing the huge blue blast at the hugely advanced elephant. The large creature couldn't budge an inch before the blast enveloped it. When the smoke cleared, only the creature's tusks and feet remained, everything else had been vaporized. The boys were both out of breath now, constant fighting started to take its toll. The streets filled up with Zerg around them as they lined up back to back.

"Man Goten, what now?" Trunks asked.

Goten shook his head, "I can't believe how many there are Trunks!"

"This isn't any fun!" Trunks whined. A rain of ki blasts came down around them, splintering the Zerg where they stood, spattering purple Zerg blood everywhere around.

"Didn't I tell you two to move it once your defused, well now you are. Get outta here and back to base!" Verto shouted from the air.

"Oh, right!" Trunks said, a bit taken aback at his brother's tone.

"Go, while you have the opening!" Verto shouted again, blasting at Zerg air forces that were flying at him.

"C'mon Trunks, this way!" Goten pointed out as Trunks was a bit lost staring at the Zerg battles going on around him. Goten slapped the back of his head, bringing him back to reality in a heartbeat. Goten rose into the air and sped off towards the Capsule Corp compound. Trunks followed, looking back constantly in worry while Verto kept blasting every Zerg in sight. _Now I see why big brother is out here instead of me. He's brave enough to stand and fight. I must become like him. _

Verto then blasted a tall building they had been close to, and Trunks watched it slam over like a tree was falling, right onto several hundred Zerg troops on the ground. The twin terrors passed by Seventeen and Buu a minute later, laughing slightly as Seventeen mostly watched while Buu turned the Zerg ground troops into chocolate and either stomped on them or ate them.


	10. Strategic Warfare

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 9: Strategic Warfare**

"Come on you freaks, fight me you fuckin cowards!" I shouted, knocking a kamikaze flyer away with my fist when it buzzed by. I was pissed, extremely pissed. The entire battle had me blasting and beating the crap out of the many Zerg I came across, but my Saiyan pride was taking a hit. None of the Zerg had even attempted to fight with me, at least that I'd seen anyway before I sent them on their merry way to hell. All of them either avoided or ignored me completely, even if I was powered up to full. It was very easy to fight them like this, no doubt Krillin would have liked to be in my shoes. Because of that, they sent tons of air forces plowing through like they found a hole, and they paid for it. I had already used three high power Galic gun attacks and ate one Senzu bean just because I was out of energy; but I had taken no damage, at all. Tora, Seventeen and Buu hadn't been so lucky, as the Zerg were attacking them with a fury unlike I had ever seen before. They had also begun to attack Gotenks like this, but they sent in wave after wave instead of all at once. Tora had already gone down twice, but I managed to cover him a bit from where I was. Despite being partially mechanical, Senzu beans healed Seventeen regardless, that and he had Buu around to distract and heal when necessary. Buu for the most part took more of a beating than anybody, probably since physical attacks just didn't hurt him that much. Every time he would look even slightly torn up, he would just pop back to his normal jolly self, right before laughing like the idiot that he was.

The Zerg were coming in extremely overwhelming numbers. I could tell even with the dark red clouds that hovered everywhere around us, which darkened the landscape to nightfall like conditions with an eerie red glow. I blasted left, right and all around, lighting up the air with my golden ki blasts, and hitting most of the Zerg air troops. No matter what I did to them however, they pushed onwards, still completely ignoring my presence. It was as if I was an invisible phantom pain in their side. Then a sudden thought hit me, and I quickly pressed the transmit button on the side of my scouter.

"Hey Gohan, are these freaks ignoring you like they are me?" I asked through it, blasting while I was speaking.

"Yeah they are, I don't get it!"

"Neither do I," I said, cutting the connection.

About five to ten minutes later, I saw red and pink colored laser beams tear into the sky, hitting numerous Zerg that had dropped in from higher altitudes.

"Guys, they're starting to get a bit close over here! We've been fighting off the burrowed ones for about twenty minutes! I'm not sure we can hold them off now that the air troops are coming in, and there is a large batch of them coming in from the west. Some crossed the sea it seems, and we could use some help back here since I'm trying to fix the generator, it took a hit!" Mom practically shouted over the scouter, making me wince slightly. I sensed Goku and Vegeta then power way up and fire combined beams into the Zerg cloud to the east, literally making most of it evaporate. The scattered ki signal dropped to the floor afterwards. _Wow they must have hit a lot of them, there's barely any coming in now. I wonder why they didn't do that before hand! Probably wanted to save energy or something. _ I frowned right away though, I still sensed many more not far away. They didn't appear to be getting much closer at the moment, giving me a partial answer.

"Boy, you and Gohan get back to base and do what you can! We will prevent additional Zerg from arriving!" Vegeta ordered over the scouter. I was about to argue that it wouldn't help matters to do such a thing, but a rather loud explosion and eruption of fire from the Capsule Corp area made me think twice and I raced through the air, punching a few Zerg aside in the process on route to home. I noticed my power was starting to run low, oddly that it wasn't until now, because I had been running on all cylinders for such a long time. I simply forgot that I was using a lot of power, and strangely I wasn't as tired as I should be. _Must be more of my hidden powers coming out in all this effort. While I'm thankful, I'm not sure how long it's going to stay up. I better eat a bean anyway._ I gulped the bean down and took off towards base. Gohan and I met up half way and flew as fast as we could, reaching home in a few seconds. The place was just as much of a war zone as we had experienced, perhaps more so. Red and pink laser beams fired every which way, striking many Zerg and adding to the growing numbers of dead Zerg on the ground. Even the ground color was officially purple now. We approached carefully, nodding at a few of the soldiers that were manning guns on top of the building as well as the front door. We got inside, finding a few lucky Zerg that got through the door, not that they made it much farther.

"You're just in time, take a look at this!" Mom called from the holographic display of the battle. She hit a few buttons and the view switched to the western ocean.

"So where are all the Zerg you mentioned?" I asked.

"Oh, there weren't that many left. I just wasn't sure there so I called for backup anyway. Luckily I got the backup generators working again and the automated chain guns came back on and took care of the rest of them! I'm such a genius sometimes," she giggled at the thought.

"So while we could be out there stopping them from getting here, we came back for nothing?" Gohan asked in a slightly serious tone.

"Oh hush, there really aren't that many left! That big blast from Goku and Vegeta wiped out most of the remainders, or at least from this bunch. They only sent about twenty thousand or so this time, which is kind of a surprise. Vegeta said the others can take care of it for now, check this out though!" she said, hitting some more buttons. First the picture changed over to a time lapse of her radar, the parts of her grid that were working anyway. One chunk of the purple blob broke off and attacked, the other remained back. About twenty thousand was the number that hovered over it before the time lapse ended and they were pretty much dead, stragglers here and there. Also on the lapse, they spread outwards to surround us. I had Mom scan the backside of where they had been rallied at to see if there was a base there, and there wasn't. She and I then noticed that there weren't any bases behind them now like there had been.

"Now that is weird. Making all those little hives, creating all those Zerg, and then getting rid of them?" she asked, glancing towards me.

"Don't look at me, I've never seen that before. What about this stuff trying to surround us?" I asked, pointing out the different areas of troops.

"I don't know, its like they want to come at us from all angles or something. Or maybe they're tired of you blasting a whole bunch all at once?" she cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Maybe, but I don't know. How'd this one get here?" I asked, pointing to one that was to the south and west of West city, over the ocean and moving slowly. The camera slowly zoomed in on a large batch of Zerg coming our way gradually, but something about them was different. First of all, they weren't purple colored, they were orange, like a slightly different species.

"This is a group that split off and went clear around us. They are approaching from the ocean," She explained the obvious.

"Zoom in on that Overlord Mom," I said, pointing out the front one. She typed for a few seconds, getting the result I desired. In the large tentacles, I could see orange colored Hydralisks holding on. They looked meaner and much uglier than what we had already fought against.

"Ugh, disgusting," Videl said from behind me as she was busy checking Gohan over.

"Upgrades, but I think I know why they are a different color. The Overmind has agents to help it control his minions, they are called Cerebrates. Think of it like the Overmind being the king and the agents being the governors or something. Well each Cerebrate's little clan or brood has a different color. This is obviously the work of another Cerebrate helping out with the battle," I explained, hoping someone might be following along.

"I think I get it, the brood thingy we've been fighting is like army number one. That could be army number two!" Goten asked, holding his hand up and grinning that he knew the answer. _Maybe he's just been paying attention for once._

"Yeah that's about right," I said, nodding slightly.

"But if we've only taken on one group so far and been beaten back this bad, what chance do we have?" Videl shrieked, hurting my ears slightly, despite the explosions going on outside.

"I doubt all these Cerebrates have this many troops with them at all times. For one, lack of resources to maintain such an effort. While the Zerg did arrive in great numbers, they had to establish their position and wasted a lot of their invading troops right? Well after gathering some materials they were able to spawn some more and probably didn't stop there. Look at this, whoever is sending this group over here hasn't been here long enough to gather enough troops to send a substantial attack. This huge force of Zerg doesn't look near as impressive now that they've split up. If Gohan and I were to combine blasts, we could take these out pretty easily from here since they always fly in a dense pack. The Overmind must think that splitting its forces apart would prevent us from getting them all in one big blast, but has either failed to realize how that may not work, or it has something else in mind," I said, quickly having Mom get a count the small batch.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do it before they get here," Gohan said, ki pouring off him in eagerness.

"Hold on guys, that was part of what I was concerned about. There's some more, here let me pan out," Mom said, going back to the main map that remained over West City. She panned to the east, where multi-colored masses were flashing, and slowly moving westward.

"I'll have the satellite cam zoom on that group there!" she pointed to a blue colored mass. The video screen popped up, showing Blue colored Zerg of various types in the air and on the ground, all coming our way.

"Great," I muttered.

"According to this, we have just a few hours before all of these get here, there must be ten different groups of them out there. Some are moving, some are not. The smaller groups are about twelve thousand or so, and that may not include what might be underground. The others are closer to thirty thousand total. It's tough getting an accurate count if they are underground, which would explain why parts of the groups seem to be disappearing. Ah damnit, the satellite feed is breaking up. They must have trampled another sensor, shit!" Mom pounded on the keyboard with her hands in irritation as the feed went out and the view switched back to the map.

"That doesn't make much sense," Gohan began, "If they wanted to wipe us out so bad, why would you split off like that instead of attacking in a huge force like they have been doing?"

"Keep in mind that we're assuming the Overmind wants to capture us. Remember that the Zerg never even came after the two of us this time. It wants us alive, that's why they didn't all come in at once. Obviously they were counting on us to defeat the first wave of twenty thousand, and then the idea is to catch us from all sides. That is much harder to account for when they aren't all lined up in a single mass like before. If Mom didn't have such good technology on hand, it would have caught us off guard. It's a war of attrition, they are trying to wear us down before coming out to get us," I explained for him.

Mom gave me a smirk of pride, "Oh what a brain, please tell me you're going to study science when we get you into a school!"

I snorted slightly, "No thanks, I'll stick to fighting!" A loud crash sounded behind us, sounding like it came from the kitchen.

"Uh oh, Mommy is down there!" Goten yelped slightly as he started to run alongside Gohan in that direction. I joined them in jumping over dead Zerg bodies and passing questioning soldiers. For some reason, saving the skillet pan wielding banshee sounded like a good idea.

**-**

When we arrived in the kitchen, we observed human soldiers fighting with the Zerglings in any manner they could, including hand to hand. The Zerglings had broken in the back door to the yard and were pouring through the door. The soldiers there had been shooting them inside and then outside to keep them out. The lack of solar power cut off the laser pistols rather quickly, and several troops had pulled out knifes and ran at the Zerg, getting a brutal response. A Zergling was just about to jump at the soldier closest to me when I decided to act. I jumped in front of the Zergling, grabbing it by the claw. It looked up at who dared step in the way and growled loudly, struggling to get free. I swung it over and around and around in the air, giving it the toss out the back door, barreling over a few more in the process.

"Let's take the fight outside Verto, you two stay here and help these guys!" Gohan ordered Goten and Trunks, who had followed us down the halls. With that said, Gohan marched straight out the door, and I followed his taller form in concentrated pursuit. The Zerglings glanced up as we emerged into the now cratered backyard. They had dug up the ground pretty bad in their attempt at stealth. A few laser shots came from above, as the roof top soldiers took a few shots at them until they saw us come into the field. The Zerglings spread apart as we got closer, forming a semi-circle around us before moving around and totally surrounding us. By the look in their eye, they looked fully ready to attack, and I cracked my knuckles slightly and grinned. Even if they were small fish, it would be more enjoyable than the ones who didn't even acknowledge me before. Gohan tensed up and let his ki rise along with mine. Just as the Zerg twitched slightly and were preparing to jump at us, a sound behind us caught everyone and everything's attention. It sounded like someone clearing their throat. I turned to see Chichi standing at the door, the dreaded frying pan in her hand, and a angry look crossing her facial features.

"Uh, mom?" Gohan stuttered.

"Tell me, these are some of the creatures that trashed Bulma's kitchen right?" she said in a low tone, barely audible.

"Yeah, they're the Zerg. They're dangerous," Gohan warned.

"That's all I wanted to know, they are all mine!" _Okay, she's lost it!_

"But Mom," Gohan started.

"No buts Gohan! You and Verto step away or float away or whatever, I'm taking them all out!"

"I don't suggest this Chichi," I began, only to duck out of the way when the skillet came flying at my head. It missed and struck a Zergling with a resounding clang, knocking it out on impact. _Never argue with that woman,_ I sighed and lifted into the air. Gohan did the same; no doubt he was wondering just what the hell his mother was doing besides signing a death warrant. The Zerg were only too happy to oblige, and approached Chichi slowly, stopping when they were about fifteen feet away. Chichi remained calm with a deadly expression that rivaled Vegeta's, and slowly reached behind her back. She pulled out some sort of white cloth and tied it into a headband just above her eyes. Then she reached down to her armor belt, when I noticed she had two holsters packing pistols. She pulled both guns up and held them barrel down for a moment. Then I could see her thumbs strike a button as she brought them upwards, and the single barreled pistols suddenly became multi-barreled chain guns!

"Whoa, she's packing some serious heat," I heard Gohan shudder. _Chalk another one up for Mom's work with technology_. No sooner than she had brought out the big guns, did she fire. Pink laser beams poured out of the guns, and into the Zerg crowd that had formed. Whether these Zerg took one or five hits to kill I couldn't tell. The laser beams poured out so quick that unless I actually looked for the strike, I wouldn't be able to count how many times a Zergling was hit before it croaked. So I just made sure none of them got close to her. I watched as the Zerg numbers dwindled quickly until only a single Zergling remained. The chain guns slowed to a stop, and the power meter on the top of them read zero. Chichi reset them to pistol form and put them away. Then she turned to go inside, and the lone Zergling rushed towards her. Gohan moved to stop it, only to see it get knocked right back out the door and into the pile. At the door stood Master Roshi, calmly in a stance right next to Chichi.

"Well, I can't let all you boys have the fun! I had to get one good lick in! Say, heh, are you busy right now Chichi?" he dared to ask while one hand drifted very close to a deemed no-zone below her midsection. CLANG! Roshi held his baldhead in pain as Chichi put the dreaded weapon away, making me wonder how many spare frying pans she actually had.

"Dirty old man!" she screeched and reentered the kitchen just as we landed. I looked around the city, noticing now how quiet it was, the battle seemed to have subsided, and I could sense everyone still alive. My thoughts went straight to Fasha, as I sensed her returning with Bardock, Shugesh and Borgos. Vegeta, Goku and Broly weren't far behind them.

"Back to the lobby I guess," Gohan shrugged slightly, kicking a dead Zerg out of the way and stepping over Roshi moaning form.

"Yeah," I scratched my head slightly in thought. _This seems too easy, well not super easy, but easier than it should have been. The Overmind left a large gap in reinforcement troops, giving us all the time we need to rest, strange. Not to mention that this battle seemed to go better than the one in Satan City. I doubt having Capsule Corp this armed had a lot to do with that either, though it did help._ I pondered over this as I headed back inside. As usual, I was right.

**-**

Everyone came in looking a little roughed up, but nothing too terribly bad. Dende fixed that problem and quickly noticed that most of the Senzu beans were gone.

"Those Zerg came in with a more spread out attack at times. It was difficult to fight them all and keep your eyes open to the blindsides at the same time. They may not have any honor, but they are worthy foes," Bardock noted.

"Yeah but nothing we couldn't handle right big guy?" Tora asked, slapping my shoulder slightly.

I rolled my eyes slightly, "Maybe if they were all ignoring you like they did me. The only reason I even ate any beans was cause I ran out of power waxing all of them!"

"They ignored you?" Vegeta asked, interested.

"Yeah they ignored me completely too, I kept pulling them off Broly though. Even as I did they did nothing, like I was invisible or something!" Gohan explained.

"That is odd, they've attacked everyone and everything they have laid their eyes on, especially you two. But if they ignored the two of you this time…" Piccolo said. Mom's alarm then blared on, silencing Piccolo and causing us all to rush to the holoscreen to see what it was.

"According to this, there is a number of Zerg Hives developed all over the city! It didn't say anything about that before, but there are a lot of stragglers here and there across the city. But, my scanners would have picked up a Hive going up. Wait a sec, they're gone now? Must have been a glitch. Argh! Now what the hell is going on?" she asked before the alarm blared like crazy again.

"Zerg troops, massive amounts of flyers, coming quickly into the city! They're staying a good ways upward towards that weird dark red cloud, they will be here very shortly!" Mom announced as she read it. Everyone got geared up again quickly, most of them simply powering up a little bit, but I remained at the holoscreen, there was something I wanted to know.

"Hey Ma, can you scan that cloud or something? I've never seen clouds like that before!" I said.

"For some reason I can't seem to break through it. Either with my scanners here on the ground, or with my satellite. My direct signal hasn't been able to go through it either; I had to count on relay stations across the world to get my signal to bounce back here. Not a problem though why?"

"Can you measure how thick that cloud layer is?" I asked, this got me thinking a little bit since it was directly overhead.

"Yeah sure. According to this, there is about two miles worth of blank air up there where the clouds are. My scanning signals just bounce right off them!" Mom pointed out.

"Two miles of undetectable space? Sounds like a big hiding place for something that flies, let's check it out!" I said, heading out the door, the others following. I stood out on the lawn, looking straight up into the slightly glowing crimson clouds.

I pressed a finger to the scouter so Mom would hear what I was saying, "Your satellite can pick up a ki beam right?"

"Well if it couldn't.." she began.

"Good enough, Masenko, HA!" I shouted cutting her off slightly, shooting the low power beam into the clouds quickly, sensing for a result. The beam ripped into the clouds like blowtorch, but the clouds filled back in just as fast, revealing nothing but the same.

"Okay Verto, your beam came out the other side. Still didn't pick up anything!" Mom said.

"And probably not surprising boy, our blasts obliterate them beyond repair, especially one like that. Your theory is useless even if they were there. Surely they all would have come out and attacked in a big swarm. I don't sense or see anything!" Vegeta barked impatiently. I frowned slightly, that was the only thing I could think of to explain the clouds. Then I glanced over to see a soldier manning a mini-gun laser.

"Hold on Vegeta, let's try something that doesn't rip them apart so easy. You there, fire a few rounds into the sky!" I said to the soldier. He glanced at me briefly before Vegeta gave him a nod and he aimed almost straight up, firing a round of lasers that would have killed anything else ten times over. At first nothing happened, except Mom noted she did not see any more activity on the feed from above. Then a few objects tumbled out of the sky, all of them on fire. I winced slightly so I could see them a little better, before they dropped very fast and fell right in front of us onto the street. Three large crab-like Guardians lay dead and dismembered in front of us. _Ah damn._

"See what I mean Vegeta?" I asked. Mom beeped in quickly and practically shouted that more Zerg troops had just vanished into thin air, but there was still a good one hundred of them surrounding West City, not moving. Her loud alarm blared again, but I didn't need it to know what I could now see and sense. There were thousands of Guardians, Mutalisks and Kamikaze's coming out of the clouds in very great numbers all around us moving in swiftly, easily inside the boundaries of the city and getting closer.

"So, you got a plan for this Vegeta?" Goku asked as we all started to power up slightly.

Vegeta snorted, "We fight!"


	11. Making A Stand

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 10: Making a Stand **

"Everyone, surround the compound in a semi-circular formation! Bulma, hold laser fire until my order!" Vegeta shouted. I quickly dashed beside Fasha and Tora and took a position on the Northeast corner of the compound, though not quite as many Zerg were coming from there, unlike from the southeast. Everyone quickly noted that none were coming in from the southwest at all.

"That's the obvious escape route, they would have their forces out at sea seal that off. We will fight it out here!" Vegeta barked when Mom brought it up. The Zerg closed, easily within a half mile from the air, many descending quickly.

"Everyone, power up to full power now!" he ordered. The ground shook as everyone soared into their ultimate forms, many of which being Super Saiyans or beyond. I felt like the runt of the group with my power being on the lower end of all the Saiyans, but I didn't think much of it, Goten and Trunks were still lower than I was. Speaking of the boys, they were not far behind me, powered up and ready to fight. I suddenly felt Goku and Vegeta start hitting their Super Saiyan two forms and then charging whatever ki blast they had in mind.

"Kakarot. At my signal, prepare to unleash hell!" I smirked at the note in Vegeta's voice and started charging my own Galic gun attack. The Zerg inched closer, but did seem to slow down. I could see many of the kamikaze's getting restless as they flew about the pack, ready to charge in at any time. Everyone had his or her respective ki moves ready to go at any moment, but Vegeta paused as he waited for the Zerg to get a little closer. I glanced upwards to see several Overlords descending from the dark red clouds, no doubt full of ground troops to attack us with.

"Vegeta...let's do this," I said aloud.

"Just a few more seconds boy!" he growled. I scowled at the order, and almost immediately I felt my power jump up a little because of it. _Interesting, if I can only control myself better._

"Just a little closer," I heard Goku mutter. I stared forward and saw that more ground troops were flooding in on the backside of the Zerg, many more than the flyers I would bet. I shifted slightly to aim at those since they were easier to take out.

"Everyone keep focused on your power, ignore the Zerg until they get here," Vegeta shouted, apparently sensing my shift. I glanced at him as to ask why, but his battle plans were pretty good so no doubt this was part of it. The flyers completely stopped probably one third of a mile away as the ground lings not quite there yet, but getting closer. I could see many Zerglings hopping over the trampled buildings we had knocked down earlier. The Overlords above us were getting a bit closer than I would have liked and I was very ready to fire at them now, but stayed where I was.

"Goten, Trunks, kill those!" Vegeta barked. Instantly Goten and Trunks soared into the air and beat up on the many Overlords coming in, making sure to dodge when some of the ground troops inside lashed out at them. A few ki blasts later, the Overlords were destroyed, and several Zerg chunks fell on us, making me wince while I tried to stay focused on keeping my energy flowing into my Galic Gun. I scowled deeper, it had been easily a minute or two since I had started charging it.

"Vegeta, are we going to fire this or not? We'll burn up at this rate!" Gohan said loudly.

"Be patient Gohan, we had a plan for this kind of attack. Just hang with it for another few minutes. If this works it'll severely cripple their forces before they even get to attack us!" Goku proclaimed, causing me to stare hard at him. _When did this come up? They are all spread out, how are we going to take that many out with one big shot?_

"You ready Kakarot?" Vegeta asked.

"Yeah, just fire it at me guys, I'll handle the rest!" _Okay..._I thought with a dazed look. Fasha shrugged and shifted to fire at Goku, who was hovering about thirty feet above ground. _Is this a new attack?_ I was beyond confused, but Goku had never steered me wrong before so I would trust him for now.

"On the count of three guys, don't hold anything back!" Goku ordered, powering up as far as he would go. Everyone including myself followed through.

"One!" I could hear the Zerg groundlings snarling and hissing not a mile away.

"Two!" Everyone's aura flickered with their power and determination.

"Three!" I fired straight at Goku just as everyone else did, still bewildered at why he wanted us to do it. He had his own blast ready to go and waited until everyone's power got to him. He jumped backwards just a little bit, enough to dodge by a nose hair, and then fired his own. All of our beams collided right in front of him and the added push from his beam sent the huge multi-colored beam straight into the sky, right at the Zerg troops. It was actually mostly golden in color, but had many different hues coming off of it. No matter the color, the Zerg flyers were instantly obliterated in the path of the beam. I kept pouring my energy into my own beam and watching at Goku then turn a little to the left and the beam followed suit, slicing through the Zerg flyers as it crossed their positions.

"Keep it coming guys, its gonna work!" Goku shouted. I did just that, noting that most everyone was still running fairly well on power. I could see now what Goku and Vegeta had planned. Goku's ability to redirect energy beams was being used to the maximum, and any Zerg caught in the path of a beam was wasted on contact. So if we could keep up the effort long enough, their troops would be decimated. It was something that seemed to be unique to Goku. I could do it, but it was very difficult to stay that focused for very long. I turned my head slightly just to see the progress of the plan. The Zerg flyers were getting wiped out quickly as Goku did a sweep on by before turning back to due east and then south. Then I saw that whatever flyers had not been completely wiped out, their body remains were falling on the ground troops, killing most of them on impact. _Wow, nice plan, and we haven't even used the lasers yet!_ I began to run low on power, as was everyone else, not surprising. I pushed and pulled all the ki I could find and forced it to Goku, who was still sweeping the skies of Zerg. After clearing my head a little from excitement, I managed to scan for Zerg signals. There was nothing compared to what there had been, I wasn't even seeing any flyers now, though Goku was still making dust out of whatever was there.

"Okay guys, that should be enough!" Goku shouted. I instantly shut my beam down, and dropped to a knee with some heavy panting not a second later. Most everyone else did the same, except for Vegeta. He rose to the sky along side Goku and watched as Goku drew the remaining energy from our combined effort. He then held onto it and moved it over between himself and Vegeta, who put up his two hands in support. Both of them powered up more, up to their Super Saiyan three forms, adding more energy to the huge ball growing in from of them. The ground started shaking some more as they did this, and I watched as they prepared to fire. I managed to see into the shadows of the eastern buildings, and there were still some Zerg popping up from the skies and ground, in a direct firing line of Goku and Vegeta.

"Final Kamehameha!" They both shouted. My eyes darted open when I heard the name of the attack, but then I had to shut them right away as the entire area lit up from blue light. I kept with my senses, barely being able to track the path of the huge blast, but I had a few guesses as to where it was going. A loud roar followed the light and my ears barely stood up to it. Fasha was down on the ground in a similar predicament, as was Tora and the others. The blinding light and loud noise continued for at least half a minute before it sailed off into the distance. Everyone groaned slightly as we brushed off the dirt that had somehow been blown up onto the compound. The lightened sky darkened once again and I saw nothing but dirt in a wide path going straight east, easily a mile wide and getting wider in the distance.

"Man, what an attack," Tora said as he stood up. I staggered up myself, getting an eyeful of the result and scanning for Zerg signals.

"Bulma, how many are left?" Vegeta barked into his scouter, despite the fact that Mom was really only about a hundred feet away inside the house. He and Goku had powered down all the way, not that I could blame them either.

"Eighty percent of the invading forces were destroyed, all of the nearby flyers were killed. The rest are all groundlings, and heading straight this way!"

"How in the hell are all of them not dead after all of that?" Fasha asked me in a low tone.

"I have no idea. Considering how many there were, I'll take the other twenty percent on the ground!" I laughed slightly while gasping for breath.

"Everyone get inside and get healed up! Bulma, order the soldiers to fire at will when they arrive!" Vegeta ordered. I was too tired to say no to that.

**-**

After getting a healing job from Dende, everyone listened to the many laser fire sounds going off. It was right in sync with some of the dying Zerg's snarling and hissing, when it was loud enough. Watching the holoscreen, the ground Zerg dwindled very quickly despite the overpowering numbers. Mom's lasers were doing an exceptional job, both the automated and the manned guns.

"Just can't mess with the Briefs technology can they," I grinned as she beamed at us in triumph.

"Yeah, just leave it to me!" she boasted.

Vegeta grunted slightly, "Only because we are fighting a war against inferior creatures woman, and your little pistols have a decent effect on those little cretins!" Eye rolls followed by anyone not of the Saiyan race.

"Well Vegeta, if you like I can shut them all down and you can go fight them all by yourself, how's that sound?" she said back with a bright grin. Vegeta knew that look and quit while he was only a little behind in the count.

After a silent twenty minutes of nothing but laser fire, the auto guns shut down and the soldiers got on the radios heavily.

"Miss Bulma, the Zerg have stopped advancing, most out of sight range. I've still got about five percent of their forces on this scanner, correct?" one asked from the rooftop.

Mom had barely hit a button before she had that answer, "Yeah just about thirteen thousand to go. See Vegeta, just let them try and storm this place, we've got better firepower!" she boasted again. Then her alarm tripped with great timing, though it had been blaring every so often as it was.

"Man, what is up with this thing? It keeps saying that there is Zerg Hive clusters all over the area, then they just vanish like they weren't there!" she whined slightly, but getting my attention again.

"Hmmm, well I doubt they would make one underground, but you never know and we can't blast at them there. I don't think their buildings can fly, but I don't know either," I said with a finger to my chin, trying to figure it out.

"Flying buildings, yeah right," Tora exclaimed like he was an expert.

"Well the buildings are alive aren't they? Who says that they can't move?" I asked.

"Yeah but come on! If they had flying buildings they could just drop them on us!" Everyone's face lit up with the same horrified expression, including my own.

"If they have spies in this room, I'm going to kill you Tora. Just keep giving them ideas!" Krillin muttered a little loudly. The alarm blared even louder now, yet none of the soldiers reported seeing any Zerg around the compound or even close to it.

"Well your scanners are picking something up woman. Care to let us in on what and where it is?" Vegeta asked. Mom looked bewildered when she looked at her readout screen.

"Yeah there's something up there, but its not a Zerg structure!" She hit a few buttons and punched it up on the holoscreen. At the base of the red clouds, an object was emerging. It was a solid brown color and looked rather rough. It came out of the cloud very slowly, and I could see a hint of the purple Zerg creep on the topside of it. But it was no building I had ever seen, it looked more like a big boulder, but was very deformed.

"A really big rock? Do they want to play catch?" Goten asked before anyone said anything.

"No dummy!" Trunks immediately shut his counterpart up.

"It's an asteroid, there is a Zerg Hive entrenched on top of it!" Mom deduced quickly.

"There you go Tora, you gave them the idea of dropping rocks on us now!" Krillin muttered again.

"We can't let it hit us, the compound can't hold up to one of those! That one is over three hundred feet in diameter!" Mom shouted. She needn't bother telling us, we were on the way out the door. Gohan was out the door first, and shot a large ki beam to take out the asteroid. It seemed to accelerate as he did so, and the collision caused it to break apart very slowly, showering the surroundings with car sized pebbles, but none hitting the immediate area. The hive on the rock was cut apart in the blast.

"Well that was easy," Tien said. I stared hard at the clouds and noticed they were starting to move a little, or so I thought. I spotted a hint of dark blue in the glowing mesh and saw they were actually breaking up.

"The clouds are starting to dissipate, scanning now!" Mom said over the scouters. The glowing red mess of clouds vanished quickly, but as they did they left behind large dark objects in the skies, at least fifty of them.

"Fire the lasers at whatever that is up there!" Vegeta shouted right away. The soldiers opened up right away, but the lasers simply seemed to bounce right off of the objects in the sky.

"No good Vegeta, its all asteroids up there! Some are bigger than that last one, and the remaining Zerg groundlings are moving in quickly!" Mom shouted again. Then one of the large rocks fell from the sky, right towards us like we were a painted bulls eye. I didn't even wait for an order and fired a Galic Gun at the first one I saw. I happened to see the Zerg ground forces of Zerglings, and big elephant Ultralisks coming straight at us.

"Damn! Kakarot, Broly, go fight the Zerg! Everyone else concentrate on the asteroids!" Vegeta shouted as he turned to go fight the Zerg as well. I wanted to turn to the Zerg, but I had to stay concentrated on the lead asteroid otherwise it would not break up. I powered some more energy into my blast and caused it to blow up instead. The other asteroids were still hovering in the air, not moving an inch. I turned to see what looked like smaller rocks floating off of the asteroids. They got closer and I sensed more Zerg up there with them.

"Great, INCOMING!" I shouted to get the other's attention. Vegeta, Goku and Broly had stuck with hand-to-hand fighting against the numerous Zerg pouring in. Bardock, Shugesh and Borgos joined them, and all of them were in their Super Saiyan two forms with the exception of Broly. The rest were watching out for more asteroids to come crashing down, but no more came down yet.

"How are they keeping those asteroids floating in the air like that?" Tien dared to ask.

"Must be some sort of anti-gravity organism that can lift a lot or something," Gohan said with a finger to his chin.

"Look, I can see more flyers coming off of the rocks up there!" I shouted a little louder than I needed to, as they hadn't seen it yet.

"Oh great, more of them," Seventeen said in disgust.

"Let's just blast them all out of the sky now, while they're sitting ducks!" Krillin suggested.

"Hold your fire, they may want us to do such a thing and we would miss the asteroids and run low on power. Then we may not be able to blow all them up should they decide to drop them. Let's see what the Zerg do first!" Piccolo said, holding a hand up to halt us.

Seventeen then took off for the front line where most of the fighting was taking place, "I can't sit here and do nothing Piccolo, I'm fighting up there!" Piccolo didn't argue, just kept his watchful gaze on the sky above.

"Shouldn't we go help the others with the Zerg coming in Piccolo? I mean we can blow these rocks up anytime!" Trunks asked while Goten was twiddling his thumbs.

"Not yet Trunks, whomever is controlling these Zerg is doing so directly. So they are just waiting for us to drop our guard and be distracted as well. Vegeta knows what he is doing and so do the others. They can hold the Zerg off just fine on the ground. We can't go help them otherwise we will lose our technological advantage!" the Namek said wisely.

I looked at him, impressed, "For someone who doesn't rely on machines..."

"Only when necessary kid, this is one of those times!" he finished for me. I glanced back over to see the Zerg bodies quickly piling up. Against a Super Saiyan on the ground they were no match one on one. Granted it was more like five hundred on one every few seconds, but they just weren't as strong, fast, or as smart as a Saiyan. Their numbers were impressive but the line of Saiyans had made an impassible wall. If they stuck to fast and furious battles on the ground, the Zerg had a very low chance of taking them out. Attrition didn't work when a Super Saiyan can physically fight weaker beings for an extended amount of time without burning up energy. The Zerg I had spotted had vanished as they descended to the ground, but had dropped off to the south compound, somewhere inside the city. It wasn't long before I sensed whatever had been dropped off coming our way.

"Hey guys, there's a bunch of them coming in from the south through the city! They aren't even attacking the city, they are coming straight here!" Mom announced through the scouter.

"Seems they are very intent on getting us looking the other way. Goten, Verto, Trunks, I want you three to stay back and blast any asteroids that come down. Don't engage the Zerg unless we are getting overrun, understand? Be very careful with your energy output as blowing up asteroids is not that easy! Everyone else come with me!" Piccolo directed, flying straight towards the swarm of more ground troops coming in. Gohan, Tora, Fasha, Krillin, Tien and Buu followed him quickly, leaving myself and the boys alone. The human soldiers had been firing occasionally at the Zerg, but far enough away from the Saiyans so not to hit them.

"Hey Goten, I bet I can blow up more of them than you can!" Trunks dared.

"Oh yeah, I bet you can't!"

"Hey you two, this isn't the time for one of your games! We need to stay focused on this!" I said loudly.

"Oh come on Verto, they are just sitting up there! They're no threat at all right now, so let's blow em up now before they drop on us! Hey Goten, I think we can get em all in one shot if we fuse! It's been more than an hour so we can do it again!" Trunks urged him on.

_Then again, that might not be a bad idea_, "Go ahead and try it I guess, but you better get them all!" I said.

"Yeah yeah, we will!" Trunks said in a cocky tone. The boys lined up and started the dance.

"FU". Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the dirt below Goten's feet start to move a little.

"Sion!" They were both lined up perfectly and started to swing around to meet each other's fingers. Suddenly the dirt below Goten exploded upwards just as his fingers slipped by Trunks'.

"HA!" The fusion started just as I spotted that it was a single Zergling that had unburied directly below Goten. An automatic laser turret blasted it to death an instant later, but the damage was done as Goten had been knocked off balance just as the fusion occurred.

"Duh, uh, what happened?" Fat Gotenks said as he appeared and gawked around.

"Bad timing and interference. Go back inside until the fusion wears off, you're no good to us like this!" I ordered. Apparently that seemed to click in his head and he stumbled off. I shook my head slightly, looking up at the asteroids again.

They were moving straight down towards me, "Oh shit."

_One, two, three - Go!_

I don't think I had ever fired such a big ki beam so fast in my short life as a Saiyan, but I did. Just as quickly as I released it, I quickly cut it off so not to waste too much energy on one shot. The sky lit up a bit when it crashed into the lead asteroid, blowing it up as well as the next few that were lined up behind it. I grinned slightly, _this might be pretty easy. _

_Broken,_

_Yeah, you've been living on the edge of a broken dream._

_Nothing,_

_Yeah, that's the only thing you'll ever take away from me._

I was quickly wrong when I noticed the next few asteroids were coming down even faster, despite being a good ways up. They kept on a direct course towards me, with Capsule Corp being directly behind. I rose into the air just above the compound and powered up to full. As if drawn to a magnet the asteroids followed suit. I charged up ki in my hands and began to unleash the assault.

_I'm never gonna stop,  
I'm never gonna drop,  
Ain't no different than it was before._

_So take some good advice,  
You better stop and think twice,  
Before you take your first step,  
Out that door._

My many small ki blasts roared into the field of giant rocks and pelted them severely. Several would hit and break off much smaller chunks that would drift off and fall elsewhere, too small to do much to the already damaged area. Even after a dozen of them blew up I kept the arms chugging like a train engine, firing as many off as fast as possible to break up the huge rocks.

_If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).  
If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down._

_You had your chance to walk away.  
Live to see another day._

_If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).  
You're gonna get knocked down..._

Fireworks were going off in the sky, but not because it was the fourth. Once it darkened a little more and I couldn't see any more asteroids in the light of my ki blasts, I stopped firing. I grinned seeing that all of the asteroids had been either broken and battered or completely blown up. The light dust and debris falling from the sky in the horizon was a clear-cut symbol of that. I scanned all around the skies for any more surprises. My eyes stopped almost directly overhead at a very large circular object, getting larger and closer by the second.

I tapped the scouter button, "Mom, is there another asteroid up there?"

"Yeah it just floated in, its huge though! About two miles in diameter. You can't let it hit the ground, that would be very bad for all of us. Its gonna be a little tougher than the other little ones, good luck!" she called out. I scowled and shut off the scouter, powering up more.

_Ahhhhh..._

_Suffering,  
Yeah, that's the only thing here that's left for you.  
Nothing,  
Yeah, that's the only thing you're ever gonna Fucking do!_

A little bit of ki lightning surrounded me as I powered up all the way, giving off a little bit of a anguished yell though I was not in pain. I rocketed toward the rock from space. In barely ten seconds I stopped, trying not to get too close, but float directly in its falling range. I scanned ahead and sensed Zerg flyers floating off of the rock, coming towards me. The rock kept descending very slowly, making it obvious that it was infested to the core. I fired a volley of ki blasts ahead into the flyers, revealing several of the ones I couldn't see, and cutting through the other ones. They raced towards me as I waited patiently before phasing out and speeding past them. As they turned circles in confusion, I raced back into them; bashing several very harshly and breaking whatever flying bones they had. Those dropped like flies as I ki blasted the other ones. Quickly scanning and sensing there was no more around, I turned my attention to the mother of all rocks.

_So if you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).  
If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down._

_You had your chance to walk away.  
Live to see another day._

_If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).  
You're gonna get knocked down..._

_You're gonna get knocked down..._

"No, you're not coming down!" I shouted, charging and firing a Galic Gun. The beam struck and lit up the skies a little better. Then I saw how huge the asteroid actually looked, my beam looked like a tiny pin needle compared to a truck. My eyes widened in surprise to say the least, but I kept my resolve and poured all of my ki into it, widening the beam greatly. The rock plowed downward as the extra power arrived, struggling against my beam. I frowned quickly when I saw my beam was very slowly starting to break it up, and I had hoped for quicker, much quicker. I struggled keeping my beam up, wishing I had all that excess hidden power at the moment.

_And now you've crossed that line...  
You must be out your mind._

I stared in horror as my beam shrank away into the planet killing rock. I had already pushed all of my remaining ki into the beam and it barely even flinched from its course. Soon my beam was non-existent and shut off by default when I moved my hands out of position to catch the huge rock. Its surface was now smoothed and polished from my Galic Gun impact. It was also very hot, but I didn't care how burnt my hands ended up. I pushed against it, trying to fly upwards and send it back into space. My ki was nearly gone and I barely had anything to float on. I cringed as I struggled to move against the asteroid. I felt myself losing it and starting to drift downwards, with the asteroid pushing me down. _No._ My senses were picking up the Zerg and the other Z fighters on the ground, dueling it out. I had lost them when I had ascended so far up. _I can't let this hit ground._ My eyes darkened from fatigue and I felt very faint. I let go of the rock and fell with the asteroid pushing against me with no effort at all. _Damnit I can't let it happen! _Thoughts quickly turned to all of the people below that would die if I failed. I felt my hands brush against some sort of object that felt like a wall.

_GO!_

My eyes snapped open in anger and I felt renewed energy coming from my insides. I snarled at the huge space rock of death and punched against it; quickly halting it's course and making it bounce back a little bit. It flew back probably a good fifty feet before stopping and coming back. I glanced down just to see where I was before powering up another beam. Random pictures of death and destruction entered my mind in my angry state, and fueled my power like gas to a campfire.

"Kamehame, HAAAA!"

_If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).  
If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down._

_You had your chance to walk away.  
Live to see another day._

_If you wanna step up (step up),  
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).  
You're gonna get knocked down.._

_You're gonna get knocked down (step up)._

_You're gonna get knocked... down!_

_Step up!_

When I thrust my arms forward for the attack, the asteroid was once again upon me, but it didn't matter. My beam came roaring out like a tidal wave and cut it through down the middle before I spread it out and split the huge asteroid in two. I allowed my hands to drift apart and fire separate beams, cutting across the sky and blasting the two halves of the asteroid. The explosion of green light blinded me, but ended once I stopped firing the beams.

_You're gonna get knocked DOWN!_

The night air was once again tranquil and the ground war was settling down. I powered down as I floated to the ground, glancing around to make sure everyone was all right. All of them were, and each of them were coming back to the building from wherever they had ended up while fighting the Zerg ground forces. I could see a select few of them cheering as I descended, more from the human soldiers than anything else. I smiled slightly as I stared back up at the sky and replayed some of the event in my mind. _I did it, I did it all by myself! I didn't think I could blow that thing up after that first try! _

I glanced at my hands and noticed they weren't bruised or anything from the impact that the extra large meteor despite the speed it had hit with. I noticed my power was back up to normal like I had eaten a Senzu bean or had gotten healed, but I didn't see Buu or Dende extremely close by, and I hadn't eaten a bean. I saw Tora coming up first.

"Hey kid, that was a hell of an attack! That a new one?" he asked.

"Huh, new attack, no?" I said, confused.

"Well I just never seen you use a green beam before, I just thought it was new. Not that color really matters, it was just a damn cool attack. It was more powerful than anything I've seen you use before, so I was wondering where you dug all that up from, that's all!"

"Oh right, that attack, I guess I never noticed the color," I said with my hand on my head Goku style. At least that's what I said on the outside, _GREEN BEAM?!_

**-**

"_Step up" by Drowning Pool_


	12. A New Development

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 11: A New Development**

As we came back inside Capsule Corp, all we could hear were cheers from the soldiers, several directed at me. To be honest I wasn't really sure what happened. One second I was struggling and about done, the next I had blown the huge asteroid completely away and wasn't even tired. It wasn't like I had turned Super Saiyan and powered up; well it was kind of like that but I didn't feel any different. Then again I was mad enough at the time to not care either way. Vegeta and Piccolo were giving me the suspicious eye at the moment and I didn't truly feel like returning it. Bardock wasn't really an appealing face to view either. I hadn't been sure how much time had passed during that whole incident, but the fact that Goten and Trunks were no longer fused was a good hint.

"Hey way to go kid!" Yamcha said once I entered the door, several soldiers cheering behind him. I grinned sheepishly and passed by towards the holoscreen, where Mom was bearing a big grin.

"I don't know how you did it, but you did. You didn't have to pull a Goku and drag it out there ya know!"

"I'm not so sure he did that purposely woman," Vegeta said from directly behind me, scaring me a bit as I gazed back and looked up. "You're tapping more of your power by the day, and you didn't lose control of yourself this time, that shows improvement at least. If it hasn't been fully unleashed by the time the Zerg are gone then we will be using the time chamber! Is that clear?" he said with the death glare attached.

I gulped slightly, "Yeah I got it."

"I'm almost tempted to go make use of it now, but we'll wait. Now then, everyone heal up! We are going to be departing shortly!"

"Where are we going this time Vegeta?" Gohan dared ask first, though everyone was wondering.

"You and the boy are staying here, the rest of us are going to take the fight to the Zerg out there! We are going to show them just how fruitless it was to attack us. We are going to crush their will to fight!" Vegeta stated like a clear-cut general of action. Most of the Saiyans in the room save Goku seemed to enjoy that little speech, Goku was in search of food already.

"But why can't we go? I'd love to splatter a few more of them myself!" I argued.

"You and Gohan will take care of the group that is out at sea, they are still there correct woman?" Vegeta asked, glaring at the screen.

"We'll let's see, yes the Zerg groups that never moved in are still out there. About twenty thousand a group, eight in all. That includes the one out at sea. They are about fifty miles apart from each other to the north and east. I don't know Vegeta, that's a lot of Zerg still and you won't have the advantage of soldiers nor my technology out there," Mom said in a worried tone.

"We will manage, Gohan and the boy should be able to tear apart the group by sea, barring some disaster doesn't happen. This is how wars are won, woman! When the enemy can't beat you, you must strike back quickly if possible! Crush their will to fight and you crush the enemy for good!" Vegeta reasoned. _Well he has a point there._

"Alright I guess, not like I can stop you anyway," Mom dragged off, barely whispering the last part before returning to her computer console.

"Good, let's go," Vegeta barked and marched out the door. Fasha turned when she got to the door, giving me a solemn look that I returned.

"Girl, get out here!" Vegeta barked again from outside. She obeyed right away, gazing back as she turned and walked out the door.

**-**

"Guess that leaves you and me man," Gohan said, grabbing a seat on the couch.

"For now, but while I'm sure we can take em, its going to be tough. Everyone here will need to be prepared to fight the Zerg some more ya know, just in case they get here before we can stop them all," I said.

"Yeah, Bulma, can you make sure of that?" Gohan asked.

"No prob, I'll let everyone know!"

"Can we fight too big brother?" Goten asked.

"I think not young man!" Chichi began.

"Chichi, let's be realistic about this, the boys are more than likely to get drug into the fight one way or another. Telling them they can't will only entice them to get involved, not that they haven't been already," Mom said, causing Gohan and the boys to gasp in shock.

"Really, we can fight too?" Trunks pulled at Mom's leg.

"Only on the compound," Mom said, shaking a finger.

"Awwwww," Trunks whined.

"And no fusion," I said, recalling the events of not long ago.

"Feel fortunate I'm gonna let you two fight at all. You can shoot them down from a distance okay?" Mom said, chuckling slightly while tending to her satellite video, which seemed to be on the blink at the time.

"Are the Zerg interfering with it again? Those clouds did that right?" I asked as I came up beside her.

"I don't think so, the satellites are intact, and that weird cloud is gone. I can't get a clear-cut reading on anything over the earth or in space. It's almost like there's some kind of dampening field up there. It's not bad, but its getting annoying," Mom said as she looked confused now, something I rarely ever saw.

"Well the Zerg aren't technological that I know of, they mostly destroy technology. So if they are still intact, it can't be the Zerg, maybe it's a solar flare or something," I said, finger to my chin.

"Too bad Vegeta's hell bent on your fighting skills and you have no interest, that brain of yours could rival my own someday. No, it's not that, solar flares aren't generally strong enough to affect our satellites. We'd have to be orbiting Venus for that to happen. It's something else Einstein," Mom said, checking over computer coding as she was speaking.

"How many times must I say it? I'm not that smart, I just pay attention," I muttered loudly.

"Takes plenty of brains just to do that kido, think about it," she said. _Good Point._ The alarms sounded suddenly, causing some to jolt a bit.

"It's the Zerg, they're not far from the docks," Mom announced, showing a video screen with a large orange cloud of Zerg coming in off the ocean.

"Let's go," Gohan said to me, rushing out the door.

"Good luck you two!"

-

Gohan and I quickly flew out to the ocean docks, seeing the Zerg cloud right away.

"Definitely another brood or what not controlling this group Gohan. Don't know if that means they are different in breeds or what, but it may mean a whole truck load of new tactics!" I said as I looked at the swirling cloud of creatures coming slowly closer.

"Yeah, we better watch out," Gohan said softly.

"So what you think, just blast em all right now?" I asked.

"Sounds easier to me, let's do it!"

"Hold on!" a voice called from below and behind. We looked back and down to see none other than Mr. Satan standing on the pier, staring out to sea with a wicked grin on his face.

"The champ will single handedly eliminate the threat with nothing but my fists right here and now!" he declared, throwing a finger into the air and taking off the red cape that matched the armor he wore.

"Mr. Satan, which one of your fantastic fighting skills will you use in this great battle?" a reporter asked from behind, a mic shoved way outward from the crate he was hiding behind with the cameraman. _Oh give me a break! I don't care if he can use energy now, this is ridiculous!_ Satan seemed to ignore the reporter completely, and rose off the ground, flying on his own free will towards the orange swarm that was coming closer.

"Oh the humanity, the courage! Mr. Satan is going out to take on all of the Zerg invaders by himself!" Ignoring the reporter, Gohan and I sped after him, letting our power rise slowly to the maximum.

"Good, I was hoping you guys wouldn't hang me out to dry there," Satan muttered while keeping a somehow straight face.

"And let the World champ get all the glory? I think not!" Gohan joked, causing all three of us to chuckle slightly. Up ahead of the Zerg pack I saw some kind of disruption in the air. At first I thought it was just heat radiation coming off the ground. But then I realized that it was nighttime and it wasn't that warm outside anyway. That and I knew the ocean water here was not that warm either. I stared closer, trying to focus on the air. It was hard to describe really, it was still clear air, but I noticed very slightly wavy shapes of air floating around. I scanned with my ki senses, only to find a brick wall of nothing in the air, which startled me to no end. I could sense the scattered Zerg feeling just fine, but between the Zerg and us there was a whole lot of nothing floating around. It came complete with gap-like holes here and there where I could sense regular air. The only other time I had ever sensed a void in ki was when I ran into myself on my mission to my past, _but this can't be related! _I slowed down as I noticed this development, unsure of what it meant. Gohan must have caught on as well, as I saw him slow and stop along with me. Unfortunately Satan had not developed his sensing skills well, or was too blind to notice the little detail, and kept plowing forward. Then he came to a sudden and very hard stop. He jumped back in the air, holding his head sharply and crying in pain a little bit. He looked around for the object he ran into to make him stop, but also found nothing.

"W-w-what's going on? Is this a new trick by the Zerg? Feels like I slammed my head into a steel wall!" he shouted in stuttered surprise. He flew back over to us, still holding his head and very confused.

"So what's the deal?" he asked.

"I don't know, there is something out there, but I can't feel anything from it. Nothing at all," Gohan explained, watching the area in front of us intently. I watched the Zerg through the area in question, wondering just what might happen. To my surprise, they stopped in mid air and seemed to have a stare off with us. But we were at least a mile away, and probably three fourths of a mile from where Satan ran into the invisible wall. The Zerg air troops started to file outward, and I could hear them all hissing battle cries. Then the flyers rushed towards us hissing and singing their battle cries. Gohan and I dropped into mid air stance, ready for when they finally got to us, only to gasp in wonder when they never came. Out of the air, two blue balls of light flew outward and struck a Zerg Mutalisk, killing it on impact with a fiery explosion. From the light I detected a few things: First, it was not a ki blast, and second, whatever was out there was packing enough heat to give the Zerg a fight. Then the rest of the Zerg flyers swarmed forward and then started attacking in their various ways as a horde of blue lights flashed all around, impacting Zerg left and right. When the kamikaze flyers struck the invisible air, something blew up with a large fireball, but I could not figure out what it was because it left no debris behind. While the battle with the air was going on, I saw multiple distortions moving around and about, especially in the battle zone. Whatever the case was, the number of blue light balls and laser beams proved to be superior to the Zerg in initial numbers and quickly cut them to shreds. Zerg body parts that remained fell harmlessly into the ocean, splashing down gently.

"What the hell?" Gohan asked. I didn't answer as I saw the distortions moving around again. This time the distortions moved towards the Zerg Overlords, ones that were no doubt full of troops. The blue balls of energy sprang outwards like missiles and starting to tear up the Overlords next, and even caught a few of the ground troops that fell out and were dumped into the ocean water. In less than ten minutes, all of the Zerg troops were wiped out by the invisible force that I could not sense at all, leaving us slightly clueless. The entire time we remained quiet, other than staring in wonder. The distortions then moved around some more, seemingly moving up and away. Gohan, Satan and I remained still until the strangeness seemed to evaporate like water in the air, no trace of it whatsoever.

"What just happened?" Satan asked.

"I don't know, but it seems that somebody just saved us a lot of trouble. I wonder who?" Gohan asked.

"Hey guys, good job wiping out those Zerg so quickly! Come back to base, something strange has happened!" Mom's voice came over the scouters, startling me slightly.

"Yeah, we noticed something strange too Bulma, on our way back!" Gohan punched the button on the side for transmission and turned to fly back. Satan followed quickly, as did myself, but a slight whisper of a sound caught my attention. I turned my head up and around towards what I thought was the source, and I saw a small brown colored spec high in the sky, moving away from the area.

**A/N: I'm sure many of you readers have already figured out what this means.**


	13. Enemies of the Zerg

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

_A/N: Here's a chapter many have been waiting for._

**Chapter 12: Enemies of the Zerg**

Gohan and I walked into Capsule Corp a few minutes later, leaving Satan behind to be hounded by reporters. As we flew over the city we saw a lot of soldiers cheering us from the ground and tops of buildings, we waved back slightly but not sincerely. As we came inside, Mom was going nuts with the computer screen, screaming into her headset telling Yamcha which way to point her detection equipment.

"Hey you two, come here! Can you explain this Verto?" she asked, pointing at the screen. On it displayed most of the Zerg bases and where there were massive troop movements as well as the cities of the world. We saw a small green dot moving towards a purple one, before it flashed red and the green one moved past.

"Looks like the green thingy beat up the purple thingy!" Goten said from the floor. Trunks rolled his eyes, while Roshi laughed a bit.

"Even more proof that he's Goku's son," the old master said before stepping aside.

"That is our group killing the Zerg Goten, that's not what I was talking about. Here's the replay of the past half hour Verto," Mom said, punching it up. The display shifted to eight different groups of purple, representing Zerg of various types despite the fact that actual Zerg were different in color. The green dot representing Vegeta and company appeared to destroy half the groups during that time, and judging by some of the power levels I was sensing, they were doing it as fast as possible. Another green dot appeared to come from our position and head out to the docks to beat the Zerg by sea, showing as Gohan, Satan and myself. But the dot in front of us vanished before we officially got there. Then three of the other purple dots vanished, far from our forces by about two hundred miles. Then across the screen, on the northern part of the main continent, a large dot showing as a big Zerg base vanished.

"What do you make of it?" she asked me.

"Looks like someone or something wiped them out, or they may have burrowed underground. But we would still pick up the air forces, so I'm not sure," I said, confused.

"Well they didn't burrow underground, they were definitely wiped out! By what I don't know, it was not the earth troops and it wasn't us. Vegeta was too far away for even a stray blast to be that accurate. Wait a sec, I'm picking something up," she said, typing furiously. The screen refreshed to show a big question mark over where the larger Zerg base had been, and two other Zerg bases in the vicinity were now missing.

"What the?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know. There's something out there, but I can't identify it, or them. Whichever, they are not Zerg, I know that for sure, unless this is a new type we don't know about?" she asked, staring a hole right through me with that statement.

"Don't look at me, I told you everything that I know about them," I replied truthfully.

"Well whatever the case, I'd like to know what just happened. Maybe Vegeta knows something," she said, picking up the scouter.

On cue it came alive, "WOMAN!"

Mom sighed before letting loose on him, "WHAT?"

"Where is the next group of Zerg located? Our scouters are not picking anything up!"

"That's because there are no more Vegeta, we thought you might know why. The remaining Zerg vanished, and so did a few of their bases to the northeast," she said rather calmly. I expected an explosion, and turned my scouter volume down to compensate.

But it never came, "Did the brats destroy that other group nearest you?"

I decided to answer for her, "No, something else destroyed them right in front of our eyes, but we don't know who it was because they had some sort of cloak and we couldn't sense them. I'm only guessing but I think that's what killed the other groups and destroyed the bases," I explained.

"Very well, were coming back! Have the healing tanks ready to go, and Dende if he can. Buu ran out of energy and we lost Borgos in the heat of the battle," Vegeta said in a low tone. My eyes dropped slightly, Borgos had been a good man and a great fighter, and no doubt Shugesh was devastated as much as we were. On the positive side, he could be wished back. I sensed Vegeta and the others coming back quite quickly, even though I felt most of them were pretty tired.

"So what do you make of this?" Gohan asked me.

"I don't know what to think, seems unlikely, but there it was in front of us. I saw something high in the sky as we were leaving, but it was gone pretty quickly, and as far as this goes, it's definitely something to look into," I said, pointing at the big question mark on the screen.

"But what could it be?" Videl asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out!" I declared, stepping towards the door. I made it about three steps before a large metal object crashed over my head, hard enough to stun me to the ground.

"I don't think so young man, you're not going anywhere with all those Zerg out there, neither are you Gohan. If the Zerg get their hands on the two of you its all over!" Chichi screeched, frying pan whirling in the air over Gohan's head. I looked up to see it was Mom that struck me, she stood overhead brandishing the lethal weapon.

"But Mom, we need to know who or what it is!" I practically begged.

She stuck her nose out to the side and shook her head, "No way, it's too risky!"

"But if we don't find out who or what it is then we might lose anyway. Whoever they are, they helped us wipe out the Zerg this time! Maybe they are willing to help us all the way!"

That stopped her in thought, "Well, you're not going to go without an escort. When Vegeta gets back we can discuss the situation, then we will head out!"

_Oh great, _"No Mom. You're sitting here telling me its too dangerous for us, it's not even close to safe for you!"

"Young man, mother knows best you know!" she said, shaking a finger. _Yeah right. _

**-**

"Absolutely not woman! You're not going and that is final!" Vegeta roared. After we had filled him in with the details, Mom once again suggested her coming along to investigate, enticing Vegeta's wrath.

"Oh come on, it's not like I'll get hurt you know, not with you guys around. And it's a science thing!"

"We don't know what could be out there woman! For all we know they are just as bad as the Zerg. We can't trust anyone but ourselves in this endeavor!"

"Shows what you know Vegeta! I remember when you were saying that about Seventeen and Eighteen, and look what has happened since then! I'm coming with you guys!"

"Fine woman, but you are not riding that infernal vehicle that still lacks any kind of speed, we fly there! Verto, Gohan, Kakarot, Bardock, come with us, the rest of you remain here!"

"But Dad, can't we go too?" Trunks pulled at Vegeta's leg. Two distinct CLANGS answered that question as Chichi and Videl dragged the two boys away. I glanced over at Fasha, taking a long look. She was quite roughed up during the Zerg battles, her figure exposed in a few spots despite the durable armor. She returned the gaze with a frown before turning on her heel and heading towards the regen tank room as Yamcha directed. I grimaced slightly; I knew she wanted to go with us. I kind of wanted her to as well, but Vegeta's word was final with all the Saiyans around. Heading out the door, Vegeta scooped up Mom in his arms, floating off the ground a few seconds later. Goku and Bardock flew on his left, Gohan and I on his right, me the furthest from him. We exited the city quickly, heading East by Northeast and flying over the mainland.

-

It was a long and silent flight. Due to Mom being there, Vegeta flew slower and extended his aura around Mom to protect her from the strong wind that comes with flying fast, not to mention protecting the growing child in her stomach. The land below us was rather untouched, until we crossed the threshold of the main continent. Things took a dramatic turn for the worse and fell towards sickening. The land was basically on the edge of dead thanks to the Zerg. Whatever trees there were remained without leaves and branches as useless stumps in the ground. The grass was nonexistent, so the ground was all dirt and rock, farm fields completely wiped out. We approached what appeared to be a Zerg base, or what was left of it. The purple creep was slowing vanishing from the barren wasteland that remained. The buildings were almost nonexistent as well; only pieces of bone and Zerg tissues remained of the organic base. There were a few Zerg bodies that were strung all over the ground, slowly dieing if they weren't already dead. We passed over without a sound, despite a few groggy hisses from the half dead Zerg on the ground. A lone Overlord floated nearby, all of its tentacles bleeding severely. Vegeta shot a ki beam into its head, finishing it off for good and watching it fall to the ground.

"Come on, we at least need to meet whoever did this," he grumbled, picking up the pace.

**-**

"Up ahead by a few miles, that's where most of the signal is coming from!" Mom shouted, putting her pocket-sized computer away and hanging on to Vegeta's neck tightly. We had passed over a few more Zerg bases, completely obliterated as well. Over the third one we had spotted more signs of a fight, with not only Zerg bodies on the ground, but seemingly robotic ones as well. There was some sort of blue blood that glowed on the ground around some scrap metal that had been smashed beyond repair. We didn't check out the scenery for long though, Vegeta really wanted to meet whoever had wiped out these Zerg so quickly. As we neared the location, I started to sense strange readings. Unlike the Zerg, the ki I sensed was clear and full of life. But the ki reading itself seemed misleading, like a missing link somewhere. Definitely not human, Saiyan or rather anything I had ever sensed before. That included several aliens, mutants and god-like beings. It was almost like flying into a cloud with a blindfold on, you couldn't see exactly what was there, but knew it was there nonetheless. Gohan seemed to pick up on the same thing; but Goku and Bardock had the same clueless Son face on.

"Guys, I'm having trouble sensing whoever they are. It's like their ki is being blocked somehow," Goku said. _That's funny; I'm not having that much trouble!_

Gohan looked confused now as well, "Why not Dad? I can sense them okay, its kind of a cloudy reading but I can pick it up just fine. Better than I can the Zerg anyway. They do feel a little low in power, but higher than any Earthlings."

"Verto, you can as well?" Vegeta almost growled. I nodded nervously, watching his continued frown.

"Perhaps you two should not have come along," he mumbled but continued forward. Up ahead we spotted large buildings, definitely not Zerg in design or type. The ground was surprisingly green with grass, and a few trees stood with fresh green leaves like spring had just begun. As we neared, we noticed several figures moving about the perimeter, some looking out, some not. We landed behind a small hill, slowly looking over at the new figures. The ones we could see were definitely alien in nature. All of them had long, gray colored heads with blue eyes and thick black hair that only seemed to be on the back of their odd heads. They all had some kind of suit on, maybe a uniform but it had many metal parts about it and included several light colored panels. If I wasn't totally mistaken, I guess it could pass for armor of a different type.

"Hey, what's the scoop? I can't see as far as you guys can you know!" Mom complained next to Vegeta.

"Quiet woman! Your answers can wait for a while!" he rasped at her.

"What are they?" Goku asked.

"Alien of course, an unknown race of some kind. I know I've never seen them before, even in the planet trade days with Frieza. Bardock?" Vegeta asked.

"They don't look familiar to me either," the elder Saiyan replied.

"So how do we approach this?" Gohan asked.

"We can't just march in there and demand answers, their weapons destroyed the Zerg pretty easily. Who knows what they could do to us," Mom said, thinking heavily. I looked up to see some sort of distortion in the air, barely detectable as it was rather clear outside in the night sky, something I hadn't really noticed since we left West City. Without the blood red clouds, the night sky was refreshing to see, as well as the air. Getting back to the point, the distortion made it look as if I was looking through a glass at the sky as it moved on by.

"Hey, what's wrong man?" Gohan whispered. I glanced at him in question as he returned the gaze. Vegeta and the others were discussing how to approach the situation, but Gohan had been watching me.

"There's something up there, it's just like it was over the ocean. Only it looks like there is only one of them this time," I explained as Gohan took notice of the distortion as well. As we noticed the distortion move about, my senses picked up on a strange energy signal, but oddly familiar as well. Then I heard a soft whirling noise in the air, glancing up towards the source. This time I had no problem spotting the source; it was a large ship of some kind about a mile straight up. The actual ship must have been about a half the size of the Capsule Corp building, so it wasn't just a little ship. If anything it was about the size as the Frieza ship that Vegeta had stolen in the past.

"What is that?" Gohan asked, catching everyone's attention. My senses starting picking up on something around us, easily within twenty feet, but I saw nothing at all. The large brown ship moved overhead and on by, heading back to the alien base.

"So they obviously spotted us, what do we do?" Mom said a bit loud for my ears. Before anyone could answer, at least a dozen blue lights flashed around us in each a different location on the ground. The light slowly took forms of the aliens, like they just teleported in or something, except I saw no sign of that kind of movement. Eight of them were about seven feet tall with the strange armor on them, the armor included orbs of blue light and were emitting the strange energy I sensed along with the aliens themselves. They were exactly like the aliens we spotted the first time. Their heads were a greenish gray color with deep blue eyes, and from what I could tell almost no mouth at all. Though with their armor plating held so high, it was difficult to tell. The other four were different from them. Two of them were huge and spider like, except they had four robotic legs with some kind of blue colored chamber being supported. I suspected immediately that we had seen a dead version of it on the way there. The other two weren't so easy to describe. The first was a shorter being bearing armor like the first eight, only his head and face were completely black like a shadow, with red eyes. A blue aura seemed to radiate off him, especially as he came closer. The last one resembled the dark faced one, except his face was very visible. His mouth and nose area, or to my best guess, was mostly gray and pretty wrinkled. His eyes were golden surrounded by a blue hue coming off his whole head in some kind of head dressing. He bore armor as well, but seemed to be wearing some kind of green cloak as well, like he was a special figure. I gulped slightly, wondering exactly what we just got ourselves into.

**-**

While we were dropped into a slight stance and became ready for anything, we mostly observed and listened to the new arrivals. Was I ever surprised when they spoke rather clean English.

"It's just the local Terrans, Judicator. Nothing much to worry about," one of the tall ones said while pointing to us. By Terran, he meant human, or at least humanoid, depends on your point of view. And his voice was rather gruff, not necessarily evil, just rough around the edges, kind of like Piccolo and Vegeta always are.

"But what are a band of Terrans doing out here and so close to our establishment, and so quickly? I was to think we wouldn't even see any for quite some time after the Zerg had infested themselves in the land. Perhaps they are infested spies sent by the Zerg to sabotage our landing site. Last time I checked, these Terrans did not bear any kind of uniform unless they were part of their military," he said, giving us a beaming eyeful. Though I didn't see much of a mouth on his gray face, I could tell there might be a thick smirk behind it. I decided two things about this Judicator character rather quickly. First off, I knew his voice from somewhere, and secondly, I didn't like him one bit.

"What shall we do with them Judicator Aldaris?" Another soldier asked. _Good, now I have a name to go with this creep other than scumbag. _

"If it were up to me, we wouldn't have even seen any Terrans. For I would have bombarded the surface to wipe out the Zerg, or destroyed the planet. It's the only way to be sure when dealing with the Zerg, as you know. I suppose we had better dispose of them, we can't risk the Zerg discovering us before we've established ourselves on this planet, otherwise our mission will be over before it starts. However, I would like to probe them first, perhaps they can tell us a few things about the Overmind's new plan. Take them alive, but if they do resist, kill them!" _Well, whatever plans for first and peaceful contact just got thrown out the window. _

"So, you think you can just take us against our will like harmless sheep? Well, I'd like to see you try, who's first?" Vegeta asked, his arms crossed in arrogance. The first soldier that spoke rushed towards him and fired a clumsy looking punch towards his face. Vegeta let it hit, barely nodding his cheek in reaction, full smirk.

"Was that all you had behind that? Pity you're too weak to do me any harm!" What the soldier did next though, caught Vegeta way off guard. He curled up his fist just a little more and a blue energy blade popped out from his armband. Vegeta was quite surprised at this, as were all of us. The soldier sliced towards Vegeta's shoulder, but moved just a hair too slow before Vegeta was able to get out of his range. The blade nicked Vegeta's chest plate, slicing it clean down the middle and causing it to fall off.

"Well, maybe there's more to you after all," Vegeta chuckled, trying to hide his surprise. The warrior produced another energy blade with the other hand and charged Vegeta with ferocious speed. He swung both blades towards Vegeta's head and crossed them just as Vegeta ducked, slicing the very top of his hair. Vegeta countered by punching the warrior in the midsection. When he did, his hand stopped suddenly about an inch away from the warrior's armor. A bright blue hue shown right over the spot Vegeta aimed for and then vanished as quickly as it had shown up.

"What, an energy shield?" Bardock asked in surprise. I was watching the other warriors as well as this Judicator Aldaris character, but none of them moved. If anything, they seemed to be enjoying a fight like this. Vegeta jumped backwards as the warrior rushed forward and sliced. Vegeta caught his hand before the blade could touch him, then tossed the warrior over his head and into the ground. The alien didn't stay down long, and was stabbing towards Vegeta about three seconds later, to which Vegeta dodged using his great speed. This went on for several minutes as the two attacked each other, the warrior came close to stabbing Vegeta on several occasions, but only because Vegeta wasn't taking him seriously. But whenever Vegeta landed a punch or a kick, the same blue shield popped up to cancel it out despite it being a physical blow. It appeared to be over the entire upper body and the legs. It couldn't have been over the arms where his weapons were; otherwise Vegeta couldn't have thrown him. I wasn't sure if it was on the head or not, Vegeta didn't seem to try there. After jumping away from another crossed blade slice, Vegeta jumped clear over the warrior, flipping in the air before landing and firing a medium ki beam at the fighter. After the explosion, the alien was on the ground, but he slowly got up. When he did, I wasn't sure if Vegeta had even hurt him, but I quickly saw that he did. The armor was sparking slightly with the occasional shock, and some of it enough started to fall off. The alien's face was cut in a few places, and his leg had suddenly developed quite a limp. He was battered, but not quite beaten.

"You want some more do you? Bring it on!" Vegeta dared. The alien didn't back down, and staggered forward, swinging both energy blades for all he was worth. It didn't matter, Vegeta kicked him up in the air and met him on the rebound with a double arm smash; and there was no longer an energy shield to take the blow.

The fighter hit the dirt with a nasty thud. Vegeta stood over the fallen one, arms crossed and smirking brightly, "Well, that wasn't too challenging." The alien started to move some more, but soon stopped when he saw Vegeta's arm outstretched, ready to fire the final beam.

"No Vegeta, don't!" Goku shouted.

The alien's shoulders slumped in slight defeat, "Finish me off, I am honored to die in battle!"

"With pleasure," Vegeta said, firing. Nothing but burnt armor remained afterwards, and I prepared for what I was sure to be failed mission fight.

**-**

The other soldiers had drawn their blades, and the two spider-like robots had opened up some kind of hole that must have spanned about a meter in diameter, as if it was a large cannon. The other two, Aldaris included, stood rather motionless.

"Show these Terrans what it means to make war on the sons of Auir!" Aldaris ordered. All of us were dropped into a stance, except of course Mom, who stood between Goku, Vegeta and myself for protection. Everyone was ready to explode into a fierce battle, and I had a pretty good idea who was going to win, so I decided to intervene before we even attempted to get information out of them in the aftermath.

"Hey, listen, we only wanted to find out who you guys were, and if you indeed against the Zerg as we are. Maybe we could help each other out in this ordeal..." I began, but Aldaris cut me off before I could continue.

"Silence Terran child, I don't recall giving any of you permission to speak! We _**Protoss**_ will destroy the Zerg ourselves! Any Terran or other that gets in the way will be destroyed as well. We don't require any help from any inferior race, most certainly yourselves. You are nothing compared to the Zerg and therefore nothing in the great scheme of the Kalah! Speak another word and I will personally rip out your tiny tongue with my own hands," Aldaris spoke in such a harsh manner that even Vegeta was a bit taken aback. _Oh of course, I thought they looked familiar. The Protoss, what are they doing here? Unless they are following the Zerg in order to wipe them out. But if I recall, the only thing they did to wipe them out was obliterate the planet. Looks like we'll have to fight them off now as well, and I'll start with this dickhead. _

"Listen you dried up prune, I don't care who you are, where you came from, or frankly what religion you seem to follow! Obviously the Zerg hurt you guys like they are hurting us, we just wanted to help you fight against them! But since you're full of idle threats and nothing but disrespect towards those who are in need of help or are willing to help you, how about I drop you in a Zerg hive now right before I blow the damn thing up! Does that sound honorable, you pathetic piece of shit! Why don't you do us all a favor and jump off a high cliff, preferably over a pool of boiling lava!" I shouted at him. Instantly there were twelve pairs of eyes that shot open in surprise for what I had just said.

Vegeta and Bardock only smirked at this, "What's wrong old timer, the boy say something you didn't like?" Vegeta chuckled.

"How dare you insult the pride and honor of Judicator Aldaris of the Protoss! Such an act is only punishable by death, even for an ignorant child!" One of the foot soldiers announced.

"Bring it on wrinkles!" I growled, powering up silently, but quick enough for my silver aura to show. I stepped forward, placing myself between the soldiers and our group. I didn't bother going up to much past half power as I didn't think I'd need it.

"Who's first?" I asked, putting out a daring hand.

"Judicator, I am sensing Psionic energy from that child!" the dark headed one announced. I looked at him questioningly, quickly remembering that my mystic powers tapped some of that as well.

"You must be mistaken young Templar! This is a Terran and a child at that, that is not possible!" Aldaris scuffed at the idea.

"You don't think so huh Judicrapper? Well why don't you come find out yourself? I'd love to rip your heart out now!" I snarled angrily. _This isn't like me, must be this hidden power of mine trying to show itself again. If only I could control my emotions better in this state._

His eyes glowed red for a moment, "You child, are not worth any effort by me! A being of my powers could banish you from the living world in a second," he snapped his fingers as he said it, as if to make a point.

"Then do it you old fool, surely you're not afraid of a measly little child?" Vegeta dared him from behind my back. The green cloak that Aldaris had was on the ground pretty quickly, and Aldaris stepped forward.

"About time old man, or whatever you are. I was beginning to think I would hit your age before you budged an inch!" I grinned slightly, ready to fight this alien. Aldaris stared me down, obviously waiting for me to attack first, he had definitely been in a few battles. I however had been trained to know better than to succumb to being too aggressive and patiently waited for him. This caused a stare down, one that lasted for a few minutes before anyone said or did anything. Suddenly all of the soldiers looked up towards the city, I though didn't take my eye off Aldaris. I sensed a few new arrivals show up, but they were more of these Protoss beings, as I didn't have a superb grip on their ki signal.

"That is enough Aldaris, stand down!" said an even older but slightly wiser voice. I turned to see the source, which ended up being my mistake. As I turned to see the new arrival, Aldaris rushed forward and clawed at my face with one swiping blow, drawing blood across it. I accepted the blow, figuring I deserved it for being distracted, and paid attention to the new arrival now. I'll give Aldaris and his other warriors credit, they were pretty fast, just not that strong. The new Protoss was slightly taller than Aldaris was, and had the same style armor and cloak, except it was deep blue. But his head was the strangest part about him; he was completely gray and very wrinkled, almost like a oddly shaped, gray skinned cross between Master Roshi and Borgos. His face was also littered with battle scars and his eyes had a bright blue spark about them. The more I looked at his face, the more I realized that he seemed extremely familiar.

"Stand down Aldaris, that is an order!" he repeated.

"Well well, it seems that my commanding officer wishes me to stop. Sorry child, but your beating and gruesome death will have to wait!" Aldaris laughed slightly as he rose back up from his drawn down position. His last few words are what pushed me over the edge. He turned his back, picking up his cloak and putting it around his shoulders. _Big mistake pal, its payback time! _I burned for redemption, and I would not be denied as I closed in and drew back a punch, filling my fist with energy.

"Hey Aldaris!"

"What is it this time child?" he asked as he turned around. I nailed him on the spot, right in the gut. The blue shield showed up, but I plowed right through it with a ki powered punch and cracked that armor of his right off, exposing the flesh below and striking it again without hesitation. He went to the ground in a heap. Some of the soldiers moved to help, or maybe to retaliate. The leader held his hand up and gently backed them off.

"Aldaris deserved that, take him to the main Nexus and get him healed!" Two of the soldiers grabbed his arms and legs, carrying the now crippled Judicator inside the base. I smirked slightly, wiping some of the blood from my face and powering down.

"That's what happens when you underestimate a Saiyan, enjoy your nap," I said towards his unmoving body. I turned to face the new and certainly wiser leader that arrived.

**-**

"My apologies for the Judicator Aldaris, he doesn't trust anyone outside of our race. I am Executor Tassadar of the Protoss," Tassadar said, taking a slight nod in our direction. _Well at least this one is a bit on the respectful side._

"Are you here to fight the Zerg?" Goku asked, getting right to the point.

"That is correct. We came here to destroy them, or at least drive them from here and restore the damaged land they have left behind," he said.

"Is that why the grass is all green here again? And the trees are growing back already?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, the Psi energy our pylons give off helps to nurture the lands in the surrounding area, nullifying the effect of the Zerg creep. No doubt you warriors have seen that by now?" Several of us nodded at once.

"What I am curious about is why you seem to be giving off Psi energy yourselves, we've never come across another race that could do that. We've come across several that can use ki like we have seen you use, but never Psi. We ourselves cannot use ki, but we do know of it."

"Pardon Executor, but it is only these two giving off substantial Psi energy. The rest are normal in Psi output for Terrans," the dark headed one explained quickly, pointing to Gohan and myself.

"Well, that narrows it down better. Why is it then that you two are able to harness the Psi energy when the rest of you cannot?" he asked.

Gohan and I looked at each other, "We can't yet," he said simply.

"Strange, any being that is emitting Psi like that should be able to control it. You control ki easily I presume, something we Protoss cannot do. Is there something special about you two Terrans that you know of?"

"First off Tassadar, we are Saiyans, not Terrans or whatever you keep calling us. Secondly, those two were empowered with mystical abilities by the Kais, or gods, of another dimension. They were told they would eventually gain a great power they could call upon; lately that power has been itching to spill outwards. It seems that Zerg want it for themselves, more in particular, the Overmind wants it. For what true reason I do not know," Vegeta quickly explained.

"That I can answer, the Overmind has been trying to find a way to defeat the Protoss for several hundred years, and yet cannot even find the location of our home world. It wants that power for its own use, however I do not exactly know what a Saiyan is, care to explain that?" he asked, turning his head slightly.

"Before we do, can you possibly help these two in channeling their Psi energy? Teach them to control it? That would be a great help to defeat these blasted Zerg!" Vegeta claimed, stunning me. _And here is the over cautious prince that doesn't trust anyone, ready to ask for help._

"Unfortunately no, the codes of Auir are very strict about the teaching of our ways to outsiders. That is something they will have to do on their own. But if you care to explain what a Saiyan is exactly, I may be able to provide some insight on the subject. Come with me into the base, and we can address this in a more proper setting," he said, turning around and heading towards the base. Vegeta followed him quickly, Mom was right behind him. I wasn't so sure about trusting this guy, but if he knew something about Psi power, I had to hear it, so I followed as well. Gohan, Goku and Bardock followed me closely as the pack of soldiers reformed and practically led us inside from behind.

**A/N: For those who don't know: Auir is pronounced I-er. Executor is also a little different: Exec-cu-toar.**


	14. The Time of Need

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 13: The Time of Need**

The Protoss base was an amazing site to say the least, though seeing nothing but alien technology at work is always at least interesting. Needless to say, Mom turning her head like a tourist the different structures. I did as well, but kept it to a quick series of glances as most of these structures I had actually seen before, even if it was two-dimensional. It had taken a little time for my memory on this to come back when encountering the Protoss soldiers, but I recognized some of the buildings fairly quickly. First of all there were the buildings that looked like really big crystals, those were pylons. They supplied power to most of the buildings in the form of artificial Psi, according to Tassadar anyway. Those were all over the place, except for around the central temple. Apparently the artificial Psi could also rejuvenate the damaged land from the Zerg's rampage, which was a definite bonus. Then there were the photon cannons, automated defensive towers that popped out of the ground to shoot at enemies. From a person's standpoint next to it, it looked kind of like the floors in Babidi's spaceship, except the hole in the middle was the cannon itself when it sprang into the air. Then came one of the more technological aspects that Mom really adored. The structures that would bring in soldiers were actually warp points. The soldiers would be summoned from a gateway or a star gate, and then would actually teleport in from what I understood to be the Protoss camps back on their home world of Auir. That fact blew my mind completely, yet it was also similar to the game play.

"To be more precise, our soldiers are usually in a form of stasis before they are summoned with their orders from their new commanders when we are at war in our own sector. Very efficient actually, but it can delay response time when it comes to defending against a big attack wave from the enemy. All of the soldiers here actually traveled aboard our carriers, as we are too far away from Auir to actually call for re-enforcements. So they are called down from our ships in orbit," Tassadar explained as we passed by the massive gateway.

There were mostly soldiers around anyway, and not one Protoss alien lacked armor, they all seemed to be part of the military. The soldiers we encountered were split into four different types of Protoss. The tall ones with the energy blades were called Zealots, and comparable to Saiyans in nature. Not because of their strength, but their love for battle. The big spider-like robots were actually reincarnated Protoss warriors that had lost the use of their original bodies, but yet were still able to fight. Those were called Dragoons, a great display of cybernetic technology, but not as great as Dr. Gero had produced in my opinion. They were looked kind of slow overall, but it was hard to tell as they were mostly standing guard. Finally, the aliens with the black heads, as well as Tassadar and Aldaris. They were called High Templar, mages in the art of Psi use. Most of them were not hand-to-hand warriors, but a few stood out, the Executor and Judicator were good examples of this. There were also small robots buzzing around everywhere, about the size of a large dog. They were robotic Probes, workers for the Protoss. They gathered resources and constructed buildings. The buildings were warped in just like the warriors were. They started as bright blue rifts, but then when enough energy had been added, the building would actually appear where the rift had formed. We got the treat of watching a new photon cannon being summoned in as Tassadar guided us through the large base. According to him, unlike the soldiers, they couldn't be summoned from their home planet since they were too far away. But as long as the main Nexus stood, the design schematics would suffice and they could still be warped in, rather than be constructed.

As you can imagine, Mom had several gears going warp speed in her head after he explained all of this. Knowing it or not, it was still hard to imagine for real. The rest of us heard the conversation, but barely took note, especially Goku, who asked about food quickly.

**-**

Tassadar led us to the central building, which resembled a large temple of some kind. It was the central Nexus, but it was one huge building, inside and out. Inside there were golden colored tiles on the floor and lots of ancient looking designs on the walls, none that I could read though. The halls were rather quiet, other than the occasional Protoss warrior walking by. Apparently this place doubled as a gathering location. Tassadar led us further inside to a large chamber with many seats around a large circular table top, which was floating in mid air. The Zealots had followed us in and led each of us to a chair, though got a few ugly stares from Vegeta when one took Mom by the arm. They weren't extremely rough about it; he just didn't like anyone touching his mate.

"I have heard of Frieza, though I can't say I know of him that well. He was a tyrant of this galaxy, but was killed about eleven years ago according to our information. Is that accurate?" Tassadar asked after Vegeta explained what a Saiyan was and who they had worked for at one time.

"Yes, Kakarot there defeated him," Vegeta said quickly, not saying anything about Trunks, which may have been a good move.

"Then it would have been his empire's remnants that dared to get in our way. They wouldn't let us pass while in pursuit of the Zerg when we entered this galaxy, and actually set up a few artificial gravity wells and mine fields that would pull our ships out of hyperspace. This turned into unfortunate hostile encounters with them even though we were warned ahead of time. We would have more than likely caught up and engaged the Zerg long before they got here if it wasn't for that."

"All right then, what can you tell us about Psi energy and how these two might be able to use it?" Vegeta snapped to attention.

"Well every being is different in how they use it, assuming one can of course. It's possible your species would use Psi the same way you use ki. For us it is all part of early training and devotion to the temples of Auir. Every Protoss child enters the military at a very young age, and all of them learn the arts of combat first. Every child learns how to channel Psi out of their inner spirit and use it in combat as well as life, but there aren't nearly as many that come close to mastery. It serves as an energy source for stamina and perception. Most of our weapons automatically channel Psi for our warriors in an efficient way. They are not able to control the amount of energy released, it is a set amount. Because of the dangers of uncontrolled Psi, only High Templar can really use it for anything more. I'm not allowed to directly say how one uses Psi, but we can say that from an early age one must have the deepest commitments to their training and faith. Those children who show advancement in Psionic skill then advance to learn the Templar arts, a very high honor in our society. However that can be their decision, any Templar can go back to combat arts if they wish. Fenix would you come here?" Tassadar glanced to the doorway. _This guy must make a lot of speeches._ A Zealot appeared in the doorway, or so I thought. His head was covered in a striped design, something I soon noticed to be battle scars. His eyes glowed gold instead of blue, and his armor was decorated a bit with ancient looking art design.

"Praetor Fenix is an honored student of the Templar ways, and one of the toughest warriors around. He does not approve of a High Templar's ability to unleash uncontrolled waves of Psi energy. Thus he has committed to the warrior arts, and I have yet to meet a finer Protoss warrior. He has survived over five hundred encounters with the Zerg," Tassadar explained.

Fenix gave us a quick glance over, "Yes the Zerg are worthy foes. Though I enjoy battle immensely, I'd rather see them all exterminated!"

"Join the club," I said, flashing a slight grin of sarcasm.

"But as it is, you Saiyans are really ahead of us in that department with the mastery of Ki. Psi is a much purer energy and can be used in other ways rather than destruction. Some of our most ancient warriors could use Psi in that way. Many were great warriors, others were a menace. Because of the risk of corruption, it was decided long ago that those teachings would not be available to any Protoss warrior ever again. That was decided over fifteen hundred of your years ago and is the standard that we practice. It is one reason our people have remained successfully united," Tassadar finished. I sighed slightly, that information hadn't been that much help. Mom then started in with the technology questions, many of which I generally ignored. I instead spent my time looking at the various warriors around the room, most of them were Zealots, others were Templar. _I don't know, maybe I just have to figure it out for myself. Maybe I have to get really angry and lose control or something, guess its back to training with Vegeta some more._

I chuckled at that thought and observed the Zealots, who looked slightly agitated. The Templars however were much calmer, and looked towards their leader with full support. I got a few glances returned to me, but I didn't sense any hostility, so I paid no heed. Until Aldaris appeared in the doorway that is, anger welled up inside me in a big hurry.

"In any case, we may be able to determine just how you two can use your Psi energy. As I've said, perhaps you Saiyans can only use it like you do ki, time will tell in this endeavor," Tassadar explained just as he noticed Aldaris. Aldaris had on a new set of armor and bore his green cloak once again, looking slightly annoyed.

"You know Tassadar, that the Conclave would not smile upon fraternizing with outsiders. Who knows what sinister schemes the Overmind has planned for them to carry out!" Aldaris warned.

"Ah, Judicator, glad you could join us. I trust you were not permanently damaged?" Tassadar asked in almost a mocking manner, "And as for them, you really should work on your sensory skills. If you would notice that no evil intentions have come from them regarding us, except towards you of course, and not every being is as treacherous as others. You should keep that in mind, it might save your life someday." The other warriors in the room simply did not know what to say, or do. Half of them looked back towards Aldaris, the others towards Tassadar. Fenix simply glared at Aldaris with a passion, he clearly didn't approve of him either. Before anyone could react though, a bright red light flashed throughout the room, along with a rather loud alarm.

Tassadar pressed a small button on his chair, "Report."

"Executor, our scans have indicated a large squadron of Zerg advancing on our position. Our air support is still up in space, and the chances of a successful defense are nil without taking superficial damage from this attack!" A zealot's rough voice came over the airwaves.

"This is what I was talking about Tassadar! They are agents of the Zerg and have led them to our position!" Aldaris stated, catching everyone's gaze. I growled slightly, but watched Tassadar's unmoving eyes. Then he simply ignored Aldaris and punched the button again.

"Understood, contact the forces in space and have them descend immediately, we must hold out until they arrive!"

"Yes, Executor!"

"Tassadar, we must get rid of these Terrans! They will only join the Zerg and hamper our chances of victory!" Aldaris claimed. His commander's face was extremely difficult to read, but I could clearly see a frown forming.

"Know your place Judicator. Your perception is what hampers that small object you call a brain! If you try to manipulate my decisions ever again, I will see to it that you become a front line soldier for the rest of your life!" Tassadar growled.

Aldaris immediately bowed his head, "My apologies."

"Alright then, fighting amongst ourselves won't help. Aldaris, ready our forces to repel! Fenix, lead our troops to the front line!" Tassadar ordered.

"Yes Executor!" they both said, bowing out with the other soldiers and exiting.

"You should leave right now, unless you would like to be caught up in a nasty battle that is!" Tassadar suggested, getting up himself.

"Wait a sec, we can help!" Goku said.

"You can, that's true. But be forewarned, this is not going to be a pretty battle. We don't have enough soldiers to last until reinforcements arrive here. You could be stranded out there on your own."

"We have fought the Zerg a lot before you guys came here, we know what to expect. Let us help you guys out!" Gohan suggested.

"All right then, I will make sure our troops do not mistake you for Zerg. They tend to get a bit overzealous while in the field of battle after all. Who will be fighting?"

"All of us!" Mom said right away.

"No woman, you are staying with the boy! And you will not get involved under any circumstances, understand me boy?!" Vegeta shouted almost right in my face.

"Yes sir," I responded with a slight glare of annoyance, I wanted to fight too.

"You protect her with your life! Come on Kakarot, let's dispose of the trash!" Bardock and Gohan sort of nodded towards me before chasing Vegeta and Goku out the temple doors. Mom and I followed Tassadar to wherever he was going, deeper inside the temple.

**-**

The sounds of battle rumbled throughout the temple, and I could here random screams and hisses of anguish as Tassadar walked slowly towards a large metal door. Opening it, we were greeted by several video feeds of the base, as well as random Protoss around computer panels. Just about every screen had Zerg and Protoss warriors having it out. The little photon cannons did a fair job shooting at the Zerg, except there weren't that many of them yet, so what Zerg they did kill were for nothing. Tassadar took a seat in a huge chair, directing his attention to the battle. On a few screens we spotted Vegeta, Goku, Gohan and Bardock, but they were moving pretty fast for the apparent cameras to catch the action. Instead I observed the warriors fighting on the ground.

These Protoss were tough fighters, I watched one Zealot get separated from the group take on at least a two-dozen Zerglings by himself. While the lings surrounded him, he simply let them hit him while he sliced one or two of them up with his Psi blades. His shield flashed several times and repelled the melee attacks from the small Zerg as he swatted at them with his blades. When he got down to three Zerglings left, he started to show signs of fatigue. His plasma shield no longer flashed and I saw blood spill as the Zerglings clawed at him. He managed to kill two of them before the last one finished him off for good, slashing across his head and leaving a huge gouge in where his brain probably was. The robotic Dragoons had a field day with the Zerg. While the Zealots were slicing and dicing in the trenches, the Dragoons were firing energy balls from afar. A Mutalisk flyer could only take a few of these before it was killed, and the smaller Zerg took even less.

Then there was the Templar, who stood back by the dragoons, seemingly like a squad leader probably would. One Templar bravely stood up and advanced behind a line of Zealots, though his line was losing quickly. Once the last Zealot in front of him went down, he was surrounded by Zerglings and a few hydras. He raised his arms up slightly and a storm of energy came down from above. Blue lightning struck fast and furious around him in about a twenty-foot radius. I recognized it as the same Psi Storm ability that Kerrigan had used on us. The Zerglings blew up right away, and the hydras weren't far behind. Standing in a pool of red blood and body parts was the Templar, satisfied and slowly moving back inside the base. Another Templar came up to him in about the same weakened condition, and they talked for a second or two. Then the unthinkable happened, the two ran at each other and collided in a burst of blue light. It formed into a large ball and sat there for a second before a figure emerged inside of it. It had a similar shaped head to the Protoss, except his eyes couldn't be seen and it was like he was imbedded in blue flames.

"Archon meld, two Templars can do this to become one powerful warrior. They can unleash great waves of Psi and are very hard to beat one on one. But the merger is permanent," Tassadar explained before Mom had a chance to ask. _So it's their form of fusion, _I thought, getting really familiar with the different things about this race. The archon then glided across the ground and unleashed what could be called a short range Kamehameha wave made of Psi. It didn't go further than twenty feet, but it decimated a dozen Zerglings in one shot.

The battle continued as a big bloody mess as more dead Zerg cluttered the ground and more Protoss warriors fell. The Protoss buildings also took hits, mostly the photon cannons that lined the base, but soon the pylon power structures fell as well as the warp gates for reinforcements from space. The Zerg didn't let up, and those fighting them were starting to fall quickly. The Saiyans were plowing through them, but the Protoss weren't quite as lucky.

About fifteen minutes into the battle, the Protoss warriors were down to about thirty Zealots, ten dragoons and a few Templars left. Faced with a very overwhelming Zerg force, those odds weren't that good, especially as spread out as they were. Fenix was about the only Zealot that was doing just as well as a Saiyan was, and Aldaris wasn't even out there as I quickly learned. He was in another control center a few levels down, apparently trying to restore power to some sections of the base. Speaking of power, the lighting started to flicker, and the screen feed started to fade out.

"What's going on?" Tassadar asked.

"Executor, the Zerg have hit our main pylon clusters hard! If any more go down we will lose power, including the shields around the temple! We are sending out probes to restore them!" Aldaris' voice came over the intercom.

"Very well, keep me informed!" No later than his last statement did the lights and video go out, and some sort of red emergency lighting came on.

"Blast it! The probes we sent out just got destroyed! The Zerg are advancing on the temple and we have no power for automated defense once they enter it!" Aldaris practically screamed over what must have been a backup system.

"Damn, how the hell are we going to get more Psi now? Reinforcements are at least ten minutes away, save they didn't run into Zerg up there. You two might want to evacuate right away, it's going to get ugly here in a few minutes!" Tassadar said to Mom and myself.

"Well if it's power you need, I'm a genius on this planet! I can get anything working, I just need some time. Where are your main power conductors located?" Mom asked, getting out a capsule toolkit she just happened to have on her.

"Yes but how will you power the systems?" Tassadar asked.

"Haven't figured that part out yet, but I will!" she giggled slightly.

"Wait a sec, you said your power runs off Psi right? Is that natural or artificial?" I asked.

"Either will work, why? What do you have in mind?"

"Would it run off my energy? You said yourself that I was emitting it right?" I asked, holding up a half made ki ball.

"Yes that might work, I've heard rumors that our technology can be run off of a single lifeform's Psi waves for a short time. Normally I wouldn't suggest this, but you have a substantial amount of energy being emitted, so it just might buy us the time we need! Jrotok, show them where to go!" Tassadar ordered one of his Templars in the room. Jrotok led the way out the door as Mom and I ran quickly to follow him.

-

"Okay, now let's see here. Those must connect outdoors, so that must be the power inputs, wrench," Mom began, handing me her toolkit while taking a wrench out. Jrotok looked on in slight interest as Mom maneuvered around in the previously closed panel.

"No that won't do, maybe I should try the other one," she replied to no question, grabbing something that looked to be a cross between an ice pick and a torch. After some more scratching around, she ripped part of a power cable out, in the middle was some sort of junction port. I wasn't very astute with technology, but I could understand the basics. The port resembled some sort of connection device, kind of like an outlet, only it looked more like a two-sided bowl put together into a sphere. She handed the port to me, which was still connected on both ends.

"You're a bit stronger than me son, can you pull that apart please?" she asked. _A bit stronger?_ An instant later she inspected the inside of the port while I generally ignored her remark.

"Here's what we needed, this is the main line into the temple. Now how are we going to power it without destroying it?" she asked.

I thought it over, "What if I hold one end and power energy into it, see if it takes it?" I heard a crash and the scampering of many feet grabbed my attention.

Jrotok nearly panicked, "The Zerg are inside the temple!" I felt the building begin to shake a bit as the scattered ki feeling increased.

"Here, I'll try to power it up!" I said, holding out a hand to take the port.

"I don't know son, there's an fifty percent chance that this will work. But then there's another chance that it may connect to you and not let go. It's pretty risky!" Mom warned. I heard screams of anguish echoing through the halls as the Zerg advanced.

"We don't have much choice mum. I don't know how many I can safely hold off of you two without bringing the place down, lemme try!"

"Alright, but be prepared!" she warned as she handed over the port. I held it in one hand and inserted the other. I grabbed on to a metal type rod in the middle of it. Nothing happened. I tried to power up and send a surge through, but it wouldn't take it.

"Hmmm, maybe I disconnected the wrong cables. Lemme see!" Mom said. I stared at the other half of the port for about half a second before coming to a conclusion.

"Hand me the other side. I have to be fully connected like a circuit, it'll work then!"

Mom realized this, but then hesitated, "This might be too dangerous for you son!"

"That's what dragonballs are for. Now I'll just slip my hand around this bar and, WHOA!" I suddenly shouted as I felt an energy tug through the cables. Then I sensed the entire building, the ends and outs of the whole thing like it was suddenly plugged into my brain.

"What is it Verto?" Mom asked with concern.

"We're in, it's ready to draw on my power! Wow, it's a weird feeling to be connected to an entire building. Now to power up, stand back!" As I began releasing my ki, the dry power cells began to pull the charge and send it through the system, turning all the lights and such back on. The lights flickered a bit, but I figured it was because it wasn't used to this energy I was sending through it. I then sent a huge power wave out my left palm and I heard screams of Zerglings dying in a hurry.

"It's working, the Zerg are being repelled and the shields are coming back online all over the temple!" Tassadar's voice came over the intercom. I breathed a sigh of relief, powering back down and untangling my fingers from the rods I was holding onto. As I did, I felt my huge wave of energy come back the other side, straight into my body. This didn't produce a good result. When the wave of power hit, I screamed and powered up more by accident, still grasping the circuit and creating a feedback loop that hurt even more. I felt my insides burning by use of my own ki as it was transferred through the temple like electricity and then fed back into me.

"Verto! Let go!" Mom shouted though I barely heard her. Jrotok yanked on one end of the port, Mom helped as it was still caught on one of my fingers.

"Hurry!" I managed to breathe out as my power was now constantly being drained and refueled several times a second. Mom and Jrotok's combined efforts paid off and separated my right arm from the circuit, discontinuing its hold over me. The instant I was released, I collapsed.

**Interlude 13.1 –Ascension-**

"Verto! Come on son, wake up!" Bulma screamed as the young Saiyan fell after disconnecting from the power cables. As she shook him slightly, his hands smoked from the power usage. The lights turned off again for a moment, but then came back on dimly once Jrotok plugged the cables back together to keep the power running. Bulma still didn't get a response out of Verto, but stopped shaking him once she saw his chest moving up and down.

"Well at least he's still breathing, that jolt must have been too much for the little guy," Bulma sighed with very slight relief.

"He should be fine, most beings are not harmed by the low Psionic emitions of our power systems. More likely he wasn't prepared for the feedback loop he accidentally created with his own energy. As for the systems, they should run long enough to run the Zerg out. Come, we should get back to the command center," Jrotok pointed down the halls in which they came from. Bulma scooped up Verto, holding him tightly as she stood up, and followed the Templar down the halls. Around her she heard hissing and screaming, some from Zerg, some from their alien counterparts. The hallway in front of them became darker by the second. The lighting had most likely been shut off since it wasn't a necessary system to have on, which made it difficult for Bulma to see. Jrotok's eyes lit up more as the darkness increased, and he looked wary. Bulma looked around, but saw nothing now besides his eyes; she barely even saw the walls around her. Suddenly he stopped.

"What is it Jrotok?" she whispered.

"We are not alone, and I do not sense any of my comrades ahead of us. This isn't good, stay close," he murmured back. She nodded and kept silent, shaking Verto slightly in effort to wake him up. The small boy was still very much out of it, the electric-like shock had done a number on him even if it was his own energy. Jrotok walked a few more steps forward before stopping again, scanning with his senses and gazing into the darkness. Verto snuggled up a bit in Bulma's arms as sleep was taking true shape, making Bulma sigh and smile, knowing he would be fine.

"Lights!" Jrotok shouted. The lights came on instantly, and Bulma gasped in surprise. In front of them stood at least forty Zerglings lining the hall, hissing and drooling at them.

"Curses, run!" Jrotok ordered as he turned back to do so himself. Bulma held onto her adopted son even tighter and fled in the other direction beside the Templar. The Zerglings gave chase, and caught up so quickly that they bit at the ankles of the fleeing duo, causing them to trip and stumble. Bulma managed to stay on her feet and stumbled into the wall. Jrotok flipped upward and landed facing the Zerglings.

"Damn, we can't outrun them. Are you armed Miss Bulma?" he asked, pulling a few devices from inside his armor.

"Yes thankfully, let me set the little guy down and I'll be ready to rock!" Bulma set Verto down gently, putting him into a flat position on his back as he slept. She depressed one of her capsules to reveal her trusty laser pistol, which she turned on and readied herself to fire. Jrotok slipped on a pair of Psi blades he had hidden beneath his armor, unsheathing them right away and staring down the Zerg. The Zerglings seemed mildly interested, but almost looked to be smiling.

"I'll go in, you cover me!" Jrotok hissed as he charged towards the Zerglings. Bulma stepped up behind him before stopping and firing at the Zerglings. This set everything into a frenzy as the Zerglings charged forward in response, attempting to get past Jrotok, who took up a position of protection.

Jrotok himself was a trained warrior, but inexperienced as he was training to be a full pledged Templar. Nonetheless he knew how to fight. He showed that as he cut up a few of the first Zerglings that dared get closer. Bulma kept firing single laser shots, but was slightly troubled, as the shots weren't killing them in the first hit. _Must be evolved forms, hell they're probably all like this now that they've been on Earth long enough. Damn, I'm going to run out of shots before we get them all, I really need to learn how to use ki! I hope Jrotok can hold them off!_ She thought to herself as the Zerglings growled. Jrotok rushed into the pack, throwing his Psi blades to his sides and slicing several Zerglings. Those that lived shook it off and jumped on him along with their comrades. Jrotok's shield flashed a few times when the Zerg clashed with it, but soon it faded out and he started taking damage. Bulma stepped up closer to fire off close range shots, growling slightly as her gun read low on energy. Jrotok took a few more hits before the shear numbers of Zerglings began to rain on him and he fell to the floor in a pool of his own blood as his armor sparked a bit. A few of the dark creatures lapped at the blood, as if savoring it before turning all towards Bulma and the small boy sleeping on the floor. Bulma stood tall, ready to shoot the next one that got any closer.

"Come on you freaks, I'm ready for you!" she yelled, firing and killing a few more. Of the original forty, half remained. Many were injured but that didn't matter as long as they were alive and mobile. Bulma backed up a few steps, scared out of her mind. Mostly scared for the sake of the boy behind her, not to mention the baby growing in her stomach. She heard a small hiss behind her only to find three Zerglings bent over the sleeping boy, examining him so to speak.

"Get away from him you bastards!" she shot at the three, knocking them away quickly but not killing them. She paid for turning her back, as one of the Zerglings jumped and tackled her, sending her sprawling to the floor and sliding slightly till she landed and stopped before the three she shot at. She spit up her own blood before looking up and turning almost white in fear. The Zerglings surrounded her before jumping on her back and clawing at her various limbs.

"Help, somebody! Vegeta!" she screamed out loud. One of the claws pierced her armor and stabbed her slightly in the back with a single talon, causing her to scream louder. Another Zergling in front of her opened its wide jaws and prepared to bite off her arm at the shoulder. Bulma screamed some more until the head of that Zergling suddenly blew up. A portion of the fluid from the head splashed around her, and the bottom half of its jaw fell with half of the body, but the rest had been vaporized by a small blast.

"No, I won't let you!" she heard a small voice behind her. She managed to turn enough to see Verto standing up though his head was bent down. The Zerglings stopped their attack, watching him instead as blue lightning suddenly surged through his whole body at a very rapid pace.

He bent down a little, scrunched up his face some more and whispered, "I won't let you! You won't hurt her! YOU WON'T HURT HER! ARGHHHH!" he suddenly screamed as his head snapped up, revealing glowing blue eyes. His aura appeared and started powering him up. The floor shook violently as Bulma watched her adopted son prepare to defend her. Then his anger shot through the roof along with his energy, and his screams became deafening and full of pain. What Bulma saw next, she wasn't sure she saw at all. She was expecting some sort of transformation to a Super Saiyan level of some kind, but she didn't know how far it would go. First off, lightning flashed from both the ground and the air, and chained through the walls, making the lights go on and off randomly. His hair flashed colors, first golden, then black again, then multiple colors like a rainbow. After a few seconds, it turned silver and stayed there. His eyes seemed to flash with power every few seconds. His screams continued as his power built, and the Zerglings looked to be backing off a little bit, taken aback by the boy's power. The halls brightened with silver light and flooded throughout the temple. Tassadar and the other Protoss glanced around from wherever they were, trying to figure out what was causing the power surges.

"What is this?" Aldaris asked, seeing a video feed of the boy's sudden powerup. Outside the Saiyans were still fighting with the Zerg. When the sounds of Verto's scream hit, so did the aura of his deep power, causing all action outside to halt. Vegeta and the others shifted back towards the temple, seeing a bright silver light emerge from all doorways and openings. A single burst of light rushed out the top of the Nexus and shot straight into the sky.

"He's done it, " Vegeta whispered before blasting at more Zerg. Verto's screaming continued until his aura flashed at the air some more, signaling that his power was at its maximum. Once he calmed down, he gazed at the Zerg with that same hateful expression, teeth clenched. Bulma observed the new form. The body mass was the same, maybe a bit more bulky but not much. The silver hair and blue eyes were the main change, much like that of a Super Saiyan, but she felt this transformation was a bit different. Either way, the Zerg had just hit a roadblock, and she knew it.

"Get em son!" she rasped. Right when all hell would break loose, there was instantly either dead or severely injured Zerglings all over the room. Not one remained standing or even breathing. Bulma's eyes shot open; she couldn't believe what just happened. He beat them so fast that they didn't even react; they simply dropped on the spot. The main surprise was that he hadn't moved at all, either he moved that quickly, or he just willed them to death with his energy. His eyes narrowed beneath his silver aura, then all of the Zergling bodies blew up, splashing blood all over the floors and walls. He stepped over to her, aura still going wild around him.

"Way to go kid, you did it! You ascended didn't you?" she smiled weakly at him. He smiled back, and then put a hand over her stomach. His hand glowed green and sent waves of energy over Bulma. Instantly she felt her wounds healing and soon she pulled herself to a sitting position. She turned back around to see him smiling again.

"What is it son?" she asked. He said nothing, but instead put a finger to his lips.

She turned her head in confusion, "What's wrong Verto?" He kept that finger to his lips, adding a slight "shhh" noise. Then his eyes rolled up and he fell into a heap again, his silver hair reverting to black and his body reverting to sleep. Bulma blinked, but smiled slightly as she stood up and looked around. The temple hallway was a mess with Zerg debris and cracked walls.

"Miss Bulma, are you alright?" Tassadar shouted as he and a few of his troops ran into the hall she and Verto were in.

"Yeah I'm fine, strangely," she said, looking herself over. Other than the holes where the Zerglings had penetrated her armor, she was fine.

"I see Jrotok has fallen, he was brave trainee. But what happened to young Verto?"

Bulma looked slightly confused, "I don't know Tassadar, I really don't know."

And outside, Vegeta and the other Saiyans noticed something very strange. The remaining Zerg that had been approaching to support their brethren suddenly stopped. Before they came close enough for an accurate attack, they turned. They turned around completely and ran the other way, fast.

**Power levels**

**Verto: 250,000,000**

**Super Mystic Verto: 495,000,000**

**A/N: Yeah its officially called Super Mystic, and I figured ya'll would want a level to go with it for now.**


	15. Alliance

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 14: Alliance**

I slowly stirred from my sleep, but the environment I woke up in damn sure wasn't the one I fell asleep in. I sat up and gazed around, taking it in. The sky was a dark mix of red and orange with black clouds. There was no sign of any kind of life around me, not even a blade of grass. There was only blackness, not counting the sky. I looked over to my right and saw some kind of ancient temple standing in the endless black, nothing else around it. _Don't tell me everyone and everything was destroyed while I was out?_ I immediately tried to sense the energy around me, finding little to none. I heard a groan behind me, and turned to look at it. There lay Bardock, lying in a bloody heap. I rushed over to him, checking him over. It looked like he had been fighting Kid Buu, and somehow lived. There were cuts and tears all over his skin and armor, as well as twisted looking limbs sitting on a growing pool of blood.

"Bardock? What happened?" I asked.

He groaned a bit before he sputtered an answer, "T-t-t-temple!"

I looked at him strangely, "What about it? Who did this to you?"

"G-g-go!" Then he stopped moving. Before I could react to his death, I heard another groan. I glanced over to see Piccolo laying on the ground in a similar predicament. I rushed over to him, shaking him lightly.

"Piccolo, what's going on?" I whispered. He didn't answer, but he managed to maneuver his finger to point in the other direction, towards the temple.

"The temple, what about it?" I asked. Piccolo grunted again, but this time didn't move or breathe afterwards. My anger level rose quickly, as I glanced around for an unseen enemy. My eyes darted to another fallen form, this time it was Goten and Trunks laying next to each other, battered and beaten. They didn't register any sign of life, never mind movement.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked the air, as if it would answer. Suddenly I heard sounds of battle in the distance, along with light ki flashes and screams. I powered up and flew off towards the ensuing battle, which seemed like it was only minutes away. I came to a screeching halt when I saw other forms on the ground. The first one I came across was Tora, his body mangled and his tail sliced open. He was very much dead, but the blood was fresh. The next figure I came across was Krillin, dead as well. I saw a fallen group up ahead and flew up above them to observe. My heart began to crumble at the site, whatever was left anyway. The pile included Chichi, Videl, Mom, Tien, Yamcha, Roshi, Fasha, and just about anyone I had known in my stay on this world. I felt like vomiting on the spot, then crying, then beating the life out of whatever or whoever did this. I saved my rage however and continued towards the battle area, figuring I would take it out on the proper enemy. It didn't stop my eyes from welling up though. The flashes of light got brighter and the sounds louder. Up ahead I began to see two golden forms flying about in random directions, and some kind of large black figure with blood red eyes. The two gold figures were fighting the black one fiercely, but appeared to be losing, judging by their roughed up bodies and movements. This showed well as one of the golden forms were swatted away harshly before colliding into the ground. The light of that one faded enough to reveal Vegeta in his Super Saiyan three form, pissed off and extremely damaged.

"Vegeta, what's going on?!" I asked as I landed next to him.

"Isn't it obvious boy, now stand aside! You are no use in your current state!" he shouted as he powered himself again and charged back into battle.

"Isn't what obvious? Tell me!" I shouted back up to him. The other figure revealed himself to be Goku an instant later as he was knocked into the same hole Vegeta just left. The dark figure seemed to be laughing, a lot.

"Goku what is that thing?" I asked as I gave him a hand up.

"The darkness, you must go train and find your hidden power! We can only hold it off for so long!"

"The darkness?" I asked. He only nodded before blasting off again to fight the creature. I powered up to join the battle, only to get swatted to the ground by the black figure. Its physical strength didn't surprise me that much, I had certainly felt worse. I wasn't sure about its energy level yet, but the evil I felt didn't compare to anything I had encountered, except maybe Buu.

"What are you waiting for boy? Get going and don't come back until you complete your transformation!" Vegeta shouted at me as he traded blows with the huge creature. I looked up to see Goku powering up a Kamehameha as much as he could. He fired just as Vegeta was bashed away again. The explosion was huge, but when the smoke cleared the figure was still there. I got a better look at the beast, though I still couldn't see if it even had a face, never mind a racial feature. It was huge in size, maybe ten feet tall, but with the all black as night skin I couldn't tell who or what it was. The aura of darkness around it rivaled none. I heard a crazy laughter fill the air, coming from the beast.

"Come on Verto, get going! We can't do this without you!" Goku shouted as he charged the beast again. Vegeta landed in the dirt, fading from Super Saiyan and back to normal. He spit up blood and gasped for his breath.

"Please, go and save us all!" he begged before passing out.

"Hahahahaha, you fools are only prolonging the inevitable! The brat doesn't have what it takes to challenge me, he's proving that as we speak. You would be better off to just give in to me now!" the dark figure declared. His voice struck me as familiar, but very odd like there were two speaking at once, like fusion. Anger and rage took hold but didn't steer me, I wiped a tear from my eye and lifted into the air.

"GO!" Goku shouted as the beast had grabbed a hold of him. I sped through the sky, back the way I came, passing the bodies in the field until I reached the temple.

-

"What a weird place," I whispered as I entered the dark temple. The halls remained darkened, until I stepped completely inside. Then torches suddenly lit up in one hallway. The others remained dark and mysterious. I slowly walked down the lit one, seeing the fire light the way. I heard a rush of wind behind me, turning to see the flames vanish as I walked by. _Okay, we're beyond weird now._

I continued until I came upon a door that appeared to be some kind of seal. On it were two imprints shaped like hands. _Must be how you open them._ I placed my hand on one and waited patiently. Nothing happened, so I put my hand on the other one as well. That did something, and the door slowly rose, allowing me to step inside. I stepped into some kind of dark and gloomy chamber. The door shut with a stony clang, leaving me in the dark. The room then lit up from the middle, coming up from a few shining globes of light. I stepped over to them and gazed at the one on the left, which was slightly golden in color. I saw myself, facing off against fiends like Buu, training and other activities.

Through the air a sound went over my ears, "_The one you arrrrrrrre."_ _Well you got that part right, _I thought out instinctively. I looked at the other ball, it being blue, and saw myself again. Only this time I was in different form and slightly older, fighting things I had never seen before. Some were Zerg and Protoss, I even saw something that looked like a purple version of Cell. I was wearing a light green colored outfit similar to Goku's, and the look in my eyes was very frightening at some points. I was also using techniques I had never seen before, one of them was an energy beam that I was holding like a sword. As I watched the obviously older version of myself, I recognized one thing out of all, ruthlessness.

"_The one you must becommmmmme,"_ the voice said again.

"And how do I do that?" I asked the air.

"_You must unleash your true power, before all is lost!_" The globes then became balls of light, the past being gold, the futuristic one blue. The two then lifted and merged into one another, creating a single teal-green orb. The orb flew at me faster than I could react, but it didn't hurt me at all when it struck. It was more like I had absorbed the energy from it, yet I still couldn't quite feel it. Everything was black again, and I couldn't see anything. But soon I realized why I couldn't move and couldn't feel, because I wasn't awake.

**-**

I came to ina very well lit room. I was lying in some kind of bed, but the technology around me was very different from Capsule Corp. Then everything that had happened so far came flying back to me. I tried my best to remember my dream, but it was fading fast, except for that crazy voice, that stayed.

"Well look who's finally up!" I heard Mom's voice from my left.

I looked at her strange, "How long was I out?"

"A bit over an hour. Hour and a half if you don't include when you woke up the first time!"

I turned my head slightly, "What does that mean? I don't recall waking up."

"What, you don't remember what you did to the Zerg that attacked us in that hallway? It was right after you powered up the temple!"

"I barely remember that, except how much it burned," I replied.

After seeing my questioning gaze, she slumped slightly, "Well at least everyone is okay."

"Sorry, I don't recall anything after being electrocuted. What exactly happened?" I asked.

"Well, we managed to unplug you from the power cables, and then we were heading back to the control center. The halls went dark, when Jrotok called for the lights there were like three-dozen Zerglings in the halls with us. I set you down and pulled out my blaster while Jrotok fought them off. They killed him and came after me and you. They started tearing me up a minute later, but then.." she stopped, not sure what to say.

"Then what?" I asked, slightly mad that I hadn't been woken up, or that I just couldn't remember.

"Let's just say the Zerg didn't make it and I'm fine now," she sighed.

"How could you come out of it unscathed, unless you had a Senzu bean on you. Your armor looks torn!" I said, checking her over briefly from where I sat, "You can tell me what happened, I can handle it!"

"Well just when I thought I was done, you woke up and kicked their ass, instantly. And you transformed, but it wasn't into an ape or a Super Saiyan, it was a little different," she explained.

"How so?" I said, cocking an eyebrow slightly.

"Well your hair turned to kind of a light silver color and your eyes blue. Then you destroyed the Zerg without moving or shooting a blast. They were just instantly dead, then you healed me, then you passed out," she looked agitated.

I raised an eyebrow, "You sure mom? I know I can't beat Zerg without moving or shooting a blast. And I healed you? There's something I know I can't do!"

"But you did, all the Zerglings blew up after you killed them! No blasts that time either!"

"It's not like I don't believe you, it just seems farfetched, and my hair was silver?"

"YES!" she screeched.

"Okay okay, I believe you! It's just hard when you don't remember it you know?"

"Well, it seemed like you were in a bit of a trance. Anyway, Vegeta and the others are meeting with Tassadar about a possible alliance. We were to go home right away once you woke up, I've had enough danger for today anyway!" she laughed slightly. _Yeah, you're gonna be locked up in a safe for the rest of this war I bet._

-

After informing Vegeta that we were leaving, which he was most happy about, Mom and I headed for home in one of her capsule jets she brought along. She suggested I just carry her home, but for the baby's sake I declined. Fortunately her jet was one of the faster ones and we arrived in a little under an hour. It was mostly a silent flight, except for a few questions about what I supposedly transformed into. We arrived to a generally sad environment since we had lost Borgos in the previous battle, but those who dwelled on it didn't show it. Shugesh and Tora were in the gravity room, sparring to work of the frustration. Fasha and Videl had been waiting by the door, relieved that we were not hurt in that little skirmish at the Protoss base. Piccolo had been in the main lobby as well, waiting on my return. After Fasha and Videl had a bad case of check the child over, he dragged me aside and down the halls, away from everyone else.

"I sensed a disturbance in your energy while you were gone. For a time of about one minute it was sky high and similar to the Kais in feeling before it settled down. Care to explain that?" he asked straight up.

"You'd have to ask Mom, because I don't remember it. I was asleep as far as I know, but I had a very strange dream," I said in truth.

"Fine then, what was your dream about, to the best of your memory."

"Well I was on some sort of blackened battlefield with a temple, and there had been a nasty battle.." I went on explaining my dream the best I could. I managed to recall some of the strangeness in the dark temple regarding the futuristic vision and the black warrior that Goku and Vegeta fought, but that was it. When I was done, Piccolo looked quite intrigued.

"Was it like one of your premonitions?"

"No it was different this time. I didn't have that feel of urgency, well I kinda did, but not like the past few times. More like the unknown path ahead," I said, a bit confused myself.

"Do you remember your transformation then?" he asked.

"No, didn't even know I did it. Right after that dream I woke up in their medical lab," I said.

"Well Bulma said that you appeared to be in a trance, sounds like Gohan was when he was a tiny kid against Raditz, he never remembered anything either. When Vegeta gets back I'd like to see if we can get you to do it again, far from here of course. Judging the level I sensed, or to be more accurate, the raw energy, it would rip apart anything nearby if not controlled. Is that okay with you kid?" he more told then asked.

"Yeah that's cool. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna grab a bite to eat first!" I said, turning around and heading straight for the kitchen. I stretched out my senses, picking up Shugesh, Tora and the two boys in the gravity room area. Goten and Trunks must have just gone in because I quickly lost the signal when the door was shut. Then I picked up very tiny emitions from them, but disregarded it, figuring there might have been a crack in the walls somewhere. I sensed Vegeta flying back our way with Bardock, Goku and Gohan, not really in a rush either. After glancing at the holo display of Zerg movements, which were now way down, I went towards the wonderful smell the kitchen was giving off.

-

"For the last time, I don't remember doing it! Now let me eat!" I said a bit louder to everyone in the room that drilled me for answers. That got Tien and Roshi off my case. Krillin had long ago given up, Fasha and Videl just plain knew better. That didn't stop Yamcha though.

"Sorry kid, its just that we felt a huge power go up and we weren't sure. Kind of hard to believe that you slept through it when you don't even sleep through a field mouse outside," Yamcha said.

"Another question and you may get to see that power first hand," I muttered, slamming down some more fried chicken.

"Now Verto, don't be difficult," Chichi warned from the stove. I could see that hand reaching for her pocket, which meant an instant headache for me, so I shut up. She and Popo were currently working on a large meal, one that the robots would have trouble keeping up with, unless there were about fifty of them cooking at once. Vegeta's presence was announced as soon as I ate my last bite. Well, he didn't shout for Mom or anything, more like everyone's senses perked up just before the door was broken.

"I swear, if I have to fix that door one more damn time...argh!" Mom growled.

"Good thing the robots do such a good job with it," I muttered. They walked in a minute later, seemingly satisfied faces.

"So what's the verdict?" I asked.

"The agreement is that we will aid the Protoss in their campaign here on Earth against the Zerg, and try to keep the humans away from their area onwards towards the Zerg. In return they will restore the dead lands and make them habitable again. They will be landing their troops on the main continent in a line extending coast to coast and will advance east from there. Those landings are already taking place as we speak. Assuming we can kill off the Zerg, or at least get them off the planet, they will leave once the planet is restored. Then they will resume the chase to wherever the Zerg go, as they have done for a long time now. Hopefully everything goes according to plan! Now then, Verto, Gohan, Namek, and Kakarot, come with me, the rest of you stay here and rest up. We will be leading an attack party in about a day and a half once the Protoss are set up and ready to go," Vegeta barked slightly.

"Where are we going?" Goku asked.

Vegeta grumbled slightly, "The lookout."

"Why are we going there Vegeta, I don't think there's any good food up there!" This didn't cause the best of Vegeta reactions, but Piccolo answered for him.

"We're going there to use the time chamber Goku. It's for Gohan and Verto, we won't be gone long," he said, walking down the hall.

"But isn't the area below the lookout taken over?" Mom asked.

"Not for long, as we speak the Protoss are attacking the Zerg around that area. They shouldn't be a problem," Vegeta explained before turning around. He didn't go far before he thought of something else, "Bulma, do you still have those gravity boots you made?"

"Yes why?"

"I might have a use for them, only need two sets," he said as Mom scurried down the halls towards her lab.

"Um Vegeta, can we eat first, I'm really hungry!" Goku almost begged.

"You have until she gets back up here, otherwise you'll have to cook it yourself in the time chamber!" Vegeta shouted. I swear I have never seen a Saiyan eat so fast, and I had seen plenty of Saiyans eat before, including myself. By the time Bulma came back with a capsule, he had eaten about half of what was on the table, and that wasn't a small amount in Saiyan standards. After the dropped jaws clenched back together once the mouth stuffing was done, Mom felt safer about stepping across the room.

"Be careful with these Vegeta, they can probably withstand most of what you may put them through, but that doesn't mean they will. Try not to blast them off," she said with a slight stern notion. As we headed for the door, I saw Fasha leaning against the wall, looking a cross between bored and sad, as if this was the last time she would see me for a while. I glanced back, nodding slightly and lifting into the air.


	16. Duel for Power

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 15: Duel for Power**

It did not take long for us to arrive at the lookout as Vegeta had taken quite a lead on us and we had to power up a bit to catch him. The lookout resembled a ghost town, without the tumbleweeds. All the plants had grown out of control despite they had only been left alone for a few weeks. Korin's place looked untouched, though the cat master had been quite happy to see someone as last, he had been quite nervous up there by himself. Vegeta marched right to the door and beckoned us all to go in. Luckily for us, Piccolo and Dende had Shenron remove the limits on the room long ago, otherwise only a few of us would have walked out of that place. I recalled my first visit to the time chamber, otherwise known as hell. Well it wasn't that bad, but initially training with no one but Vegeta could be called hell. Later when Piccolo came in, I could actually go a few minutes without having the shit kicked out of me. It became easier then, and even a little fun. As I crossed the threshold and entered the white void, I could only imagine what Vegeta had in store for us. He tossed the capsule down, revealing a small box. Inside were two large, metallic belts with dials on the sides, along with matching boots.

"Here you two, put these on. Set gravity to two-fifty. These will simulate that much gravity for you, but not to anyone else, and get ready to spar," he barked. _Oh man, Gohan is going to cream me!_ I did as asked, quickly feeling the effects of added gravity.

"Power up to your maximums. You're going to fight each other until you either unlock your hidden powers, or you collapse. If you both collapse then we'll feed you Senzu beans until you can do it, go!" Vegeta barked. I stepped out onto the white floor, feeling another gravity jump hit me, increasing it to two hundred sixty just from the environment. The boots felt like concrete blocks and I struggled a little to walk at first. Gohan walked out beside me, emotionless expression on his face.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

"I think we had better find our hidden powers, but I don't think sparring is going to do it. Unless we both get really pissed off or we go all out," I paused after that last statement.

"You do realize that I'll wipe the floor with you as we are now," he chuckled slightly. I didn't respond right away, but I glanced down at the dial on the belt. It read two hundred and fifty, but I saw it had the word max engraved on the other side, right next to four hundred. I grinned slightly, Gohan had never trained much at that level, as far as I knew. I could barely stand under it when I had been a Super Saiyan at full power, my ape form had been okay with it. Five hundred times gravity is the most I had been at with the ape form and a few times as a teen not long ago. I knew Gohan had experienced five hundred a few times, but it wasn't very often. _Well, I'm not going to be able to hang around quite as long as I would prefer, but neither will he since he hasn't trained under it._

"I have a challenge for you then. We go all out, at four hundred times gravity!"

Gohan gasped slightly before shrugging it off, "I get it, you think you'll be able to last longer because you've trained under it more than me. Nice idea, but it will backfire!"

"You afraid?" I asked smugly.

He smirked right back, "No, let's do it!" I unlocked the lock on the dial and cranked it to max, locking it again and taking a power up stance across from Gohan, who did the same.

Interlude 15.1 –Onlookers-

It was about five minutes into the match before Vegeta started getting a bit angry.

"What are they doing, slacking off on purpose?"

"No they are not," Piccolo said plainly.

"I know the boy can move faster than that at two-fifty times gravity, Gohan too! Hell, Gohan should be wiping the floor with him!"

"They turned it up to four hundred, which appeared to be the maximum those devices can simulate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Gohan hasn't trained that high has he?"

"Rarely. Anything more than three hundred will push the limits of the gravity chamber, though it can withstand five hundred for about and hour. Why Namek?" Vegeta asked.

"So that's why its like Gohan is holding back, he can't handle it," Goku said before Piccolo could answer, holding a freshly cooked ham.

"Exactly, Verto suckered him into it! He is going to be a great warrior someday," Vegeta claimed, full of pride as if he had just figured it out. Piccolo shrugged off the fact Vegeta took credit for something he didn't know about, but was still curious.

"Do you pride him more than your own son?" Vegeta didn't react to that question right away, so Piccolo repeated it.

"I heard you the first time Namek!" he shouted as a shockwave came by, fresh from a few ki blasts by Gohan.

"Then answer the question," Piccolo stood firm. Goku glanced over, just in case he had to step in between the two, chewing on his ham.

"Kakarot, get lost!" Vegeta barked. Goku didn't hang around once he saw Vegeta's face, and he right away made for the kitchen.

"My son has made me very proud, but I know he's too much like his mother. Someday he will probably take over the company, instead of taking the warrior's path. I know he wants to take both paths, but if he wasn't so intelligent, then he and I could have more of a say in it. As much as I despise it, I cannot control it if that's what he wants to do, it is a promising future. Verto is what Trunks could have become if he stuck to his training from day one," Vegeta said.

"So you view Verto as a second chance to be a father?"

"No I don't. Trunks is my son and heir, I am simply giving Verto the best I can provide. I was given the honor to raise and train him, and I intend to do the best that I can. He has a taller task then Trunks does after all, should he ever return to his own dimension," Vegeta said.

"Humph, we still don't know if Shenron can even grant wishes like that. I don't think even Porunga can, and Elder Kai was not too keen on that idea if you recall," Piccolo said.

"Like he is going to stop me." The two silenced themselves for a moment as Gohan and Verto had just fired dueling Kamehamehas at each other.

"You really think Verto is what you said to me before?" Piccolo asked in a hushed voice.

"I still have no idea, but he is living up to it thus far. No other Saiyan has ever been given that name that I know of. At first I thought it was pure accident, but now I see that it was a lucky guess by the other son and his mother," Vegeta grunted slightly.

"Are you ever going to tell him the meaning of his name then?" Piccolo asked again, getting another ugly look from Vegeta.

"Not until he grows up for good or it's necessary for him to know it, he's got enough pressure on him for now," Vegeta said, trying to end the subject.

"Do you think they can actually do it and break the barriers of their minds and bodies? They were trained pretty well to avoid letting their emotions get the best of them," Piccolo said.

"They can. They've been letting their emotions go haywire lately. It's either this or risk the planet getting destroyed when they go crazy again," Vegeta smirked slightly as Verto's beam started to push Gohan back.

"Assuming they can control it," Piccolo grunted as Gohan pushed back into a stalemate.

"They can, and they will! If not, we may have already lost," Vegeta said, a little softer now.

-

I growled slightly as Gohan's beam pushed back into a stalemate. The battle had started off pretty evenly; Gohan had more power for him, but couldn't adjust to the heavy gravity like I could. I knew if I gave him too much time, he would adjust and I would be in deep trouble, so I started hard and heavy. Now we were just throwing energy at each other till we ran out. I knew who would run out first, so I was quickly thinking my options over. Then I got an idea, and pumped a quick but powerful burst into my beam. This pushed it almost into Gohan's face before he started to send it back. Right when he powered up again, I shut it off, phasing out. While Gohan fired at an imaginary target, I managed to get behind him and catch him off guard. I punched and kicked for all I was worth, and luckily he was so stunned that he couldn't get a good block off. After I kicked him to the ground, I fired a Galic gun from short distance, hitting dead on. _He's okay, probably already moving again, _I told myself. Sure enough he was gone when the smoke cleared. I refocused, blocking a punch that was aimed for the back of my head when I finally picked him up again.

"Nice move with the Kamehameha, I didn't expect that. I figured you would just keep fighting it until you passed out, you seem to do that a lot," he smirked slightly as we traded blows only to get them blocked easily.

"Well I figured it would be the best way for me to win if I didn't do everything you expected," I grinned slightly as he blocked three more of my punches before coming back with his own.

"Well, this will be an interesting battle then, since I'm going to win it!" he shouted before vanishing as my next punch came for his head. _Damn, where'd he go!_ My ki sense had totally lost him. _Was that instant transmission? No he's still here, but he's using all his speed! He must be adjusted to this gravity. Shit, I can't fight him if he uses that speed! I'll just have to think of something else!_ I sensed him coming back my way, so I phased out just as he appeared, but he blocked the sidekick I aimed at him. I growled a bit while he grinned.

"C'mon Verto, you know you can't win!" To prove his point, I received an unseen hard blow that broke my nose instantly. I kicked back at him in retaliation, only to get it blocked too before he caught me in the gut. I forgot about my broken nose and spit up the blood from my throat first.

He backed off, slightly concerned, "Maybe we better stop," he said, starting to drop his power. Anger filled me, I was going to make him pay for that one.

"KAIOKEN!" I charged ahead and his face turned into the classic deer in the headlights look. I backhanded his face from the left side, before kicking him in the chest so hard that his breath skipped for a moment. _Guess I'll make him go a little more seriously while I still have some power left,_ I thought. Rushing forward, I attacked with a double axe handle to his back and phased out to intercept his body's path. When I got there he recovered enough to dodge to the side, landing with a sharp gasp of breath. I landed, keeping the Kaioken going as best I could. That's when I noticed a swirl of blue going through my red aura. _Must be my hidden power again, I wonder if the Kaioken technique has any effect on it? Or perhaps it's because I'm so worked up now, maybe if I can get him angry I can push this further!_

"C'mon Gohan, you know that if we don't train that we can't find our power and save Earth! Then what will happen, everyone will be killed, Mom, Chichi, Videl, Goku, everyone!" I backed off quick when I saw his angry face, but realized that I'd have to keep it up if he was going to transform.

"Yeah, even Goku can't save everyone this time! He will fall in battle before all of us die, he can't save us! He isn't even a true warrior!" I smirked slightly when I saw the expression on Gohan's face. I definitely pressed the right button and I prepared myself for the explosion I was going to receive. But he stopped and smirked at me instead.

"You know, Vegeta is worthless! He can't beat Dad or me, what a disgrace he is! Doesn't deserve to live as a prince, more like a peasant, Hahaha!" he laughed.

"So much for that idea then," I said lowly, dropping the Kaioken powerup and taking a short breather.

Gohan chuckled slightly, "Well you started it!"

"I don't think this is ever going to work if were trying to make each other angry, we're too controlled despite what has happened lately. We need someone we don't know well to do this," I said, trying to think of someone that would be able to pull it off.

"What if we fed each other mental pictures, it's worked for me and you before, right?" Gohan suggested.

"Sure, but we'd have to go one at a time, and without the gravity strain to concentrate. It doesn't sound easy to do, not to mention one of us would be too pissed off to care about the other at that point," I said, glancing over at Piccolo and Vegeta. I sensed Goku leave the time chamber, _must have run out of food. _

"Maybe we should just beat each other senseless then, that might work too!" Gohan said, leaping forward and catching me off guard with a kick to the chest. I flew backwards into the ground before jumping up and firing a ki blast at his face. He shrugged it off and fired one of his own that cut open my leg as I tried to dodge it. _He wants to do this the hard way, fine, I'm all for it!_

"Galic gun..." I started up the chant as he started on a Kamehameha. "FIRE!" I shouted as I landed and aimed right at him. He fired back and we had another stalemate on our hands as the beams pushed towards each other. My power however was running low quickly, I had used too much on the last attack and his was still higher than mine afterwards. I dug in, giving every ounce of it to the beam. _This is it, it is now or never!_ As his beam quickly pushed back, his power shot up again and it pushed back to the middle. _Damn!_ His beam started overpowering me, and I sensed him pull it back a bit.

"NO GOHAN, DO NOT RELEASE IT!" I heard someone shout. He didn't, and beyond my red beam I saw bright blue. _No, I have to do it, I have to win!_

"KAIOKEN!" I shouted for one last go. My beam's power increased, but didn't even do anything to his.

"Damn," I closed my eyes and waited to be knocked out, I wasn't going to be able to dodge this one. When blackness occurred, my view shifted somehow. I saw Trunks and Goten, playing together, Mom working in the lab as they ran by.

"Oh those two!" Chichi was shown next, shaking off wet laundry before hanging it, next to her stood Videl, doing the same. She had a long ponytail for hair this time. Gohan sat in some sort of study, reading books with some nerdy glasses on. Next to him was a small crib, with a baby girl sleeping soundly inside. Next it showed Vegeta, training as usual, but on the outside. His head turned slightly as if he sensed something right before I saw a bright explosion. Everything was now changing as the sky turned blood red, the ground was covered in the same. The trees were on fire and I could see Zerg running about. Then I saw piles of dead bodies, some very familiar.

"What's going on?" I asked.

The answer I got was a large flaming but familiar looking black head laughing at my face, "Now destroy it all!" Then everything and everyone blew up in a huge explosion, followed by a vision from space of the earth blowing up. I felt energy bellowing up from underneath and pulled it forth.

"NO!" The visions ceased as a blinding silver light appeared. I tried to block it out to see better, but I couldn't, because it was my power. I screamed as it invaded my body and began to burn my muscles and my eyes. I forced it out through my hands, bringing me back to a red light beam in front of a blue one. The blue beam from Gohan's was barely two feet away, but I barely noticed. I felt my hair go up in a flame, and change. My eyebrows shifted colors and I could see a hint of a light silver color, and then I knew I had done it. _I did it? Seemed kinda easy, but wow this power is awesome!_ I pushed my Galic gun beam back easily, using plenty of the energy I just acquired, right into Gohan's face. It took me a moment to realize that my beam had turned green. _Okay, that was different._ Rather than wonder why this happened, I focused on getting Gohan to achieve the same thing. He tried to push it back as well, but couldn't. Had he been at full power that might be a different story, but I had been able to get him to burn a lot of it up. I thought about holding back, but then declined, if it worked for me it can work for him. I pushed until I sensed him struggling to keep up. Then I sensed him start to convulse, meaning his transformation was starting. He screamed rather loud before sending the Kamehameha back at me. I sent more power into my Galic gun, just enough to keep a stalemate again. His beam had turned green as well. A few minutes went by before any of us did anything, as I wanted to make sure he had a good hold on himself before I did anything.

"_You can stop now Verto!_" Gohan's voice rang through my head. I shut off the beam just as he did, catching a good look of him. His hair stood just as it had, silver now. His eyes blue and glowing lightly. He was the spitting image of what Mom had described about me. I tried to compare my new power to his, before I sensed three different energies within him. One was his ki, whatever was left of it, the other I wasn't sure about. I assumed it must be Psi, because I realized I could sense it from myself as well. The third was both of them working together like they were fused, and that was being emitted throughout our silver auras. I scanned my own body to discover the same thing. I drew what felt like ki into one ball in my hand. It showed up yellow like usual. I drew what felt to be different into the other, making a blue one. I noted though that it was a bit harder to form each energy ball than it should have been, pulling it apart from the fused energy.

"So this is Psi? Doesn't feel that much different than using ki. Feels like I have just a little bit less Psi than ki in my body. This two-energy thing could be nice though, as long as we don't have to transform to use it. It feels like this form is more like both of Psi and ki put together, but I can separate them out pretty easily," I said, watching Gohan with his own little test. I then pulled both energy balls together and formed a bright teal green one when they merged, feeling more powerful than it should have been.

"Well that was certainly an experience. Good job getting a hold of yourself long enough to send me mental pictures like that, that laughing skull did the trick!" he said with a slight smile.

I stopped, letting my new energy vanish in my hands, "I didn't, I thought you did that to me!" We both looked at Piccolo and Vegeta, who were shaking where they stood. Then I saw the door closing from afar, a small purple figure slipped out just as I noticed him, not long enough to know whom it was.

"Well it doesn't matter I suppose," Gohan shrugged and walked towards them.

"Maybe we better try and master this transformation before we call it a day Gohan," I suggested, powering down.

"Good idea," he said, doing the same. We both collapsed the instant we powered down.

**Power levels:**

**Verto: 250,000,000; Kaioken: 375,000,000; Super Mystic: 495,000,000 **

**Gohan: 565,000,000 Super Mystic Gohan: 650,000,000 **


	17. Deception in the Ranks

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 16: Deception in the Ranks**

"Whoa, did someone get the number of that bus!" I cringed as a bad headache hit me when I came to.

"You have a headache? How is that possible? We just gave you both Senzu beans, you should be completely healed!" Vegeta barked.

"Don't ask me!" I said.

"Ease off Vegeta, considering how much power they just accessed, they might need some time to recover. As I understand, Psi power comes from the mind and spirit, so maybe just healing the body doesn't take care of things like that. They will have to adjust first," Piccolo said, his voice hardly one of sympathy. I looked over at Gohan, who was also on the ground trying to gather himself from a similar predicament. Then I examined myself somewhat thoroughly. I was fine, the Senzu bean did its job well. When I sensed my own energy, I discovered something very odd. My ki was normal, as high as it ever was in my kid form. But I felt the other energy there again, one that I had been feeling from the Protoss and Gohan, but now I felt I could harness it. It had to be the Psi energy I possessed; I swore I felt it when we had been transformed. The whole last five or so minutes were a bit fuzzy at the moment so I wasn't sure. I didn't feel that combined energy flowing through me anymore, so I assumed that the transformed state we had achieved had unlocked everything and was a channeling point for using both energies as one.

"Hey Gohan, you feeling what I'm feeling now?" I asked.

"If you mean two different energy sources to use, yeah I feel it all right!" he replied.

"Excellent, they've unlocked Psi, now they must harness it!" Piccolo exclaimed.

"Good, I was hoping to get some training bouts in with these two," Vegeta cackled, cracking his knuckles.

"No I think it would be better if we left them in here to work it out alone. We do not know the extent of their powers now, nor can we train them to use an energy that we don't understand. Let's get going Vegeta. You two take all the time you need!" Piccolo said, cape flapping as he turned to leave. Vegeta grunted, but followed as Goku shut the door behind them.

"I think we should work separately at first, figure it out individually," Gohan suggested, taking a few steps away. I stood up, getting a feel for the new energy that was spiraling through me. When I tried to call it up though, it didn't respond. _Well that's strange, maybe I have to push with my ki!_ I tried that and it came forth in an instant, like I had just changed to a Super Saiyan. Only there was no power increase to speak of, I was just suddenly being able to use both energies. After getting a feel, I wasn't quite sure what to do. _Hmmmm, maybe you have to use it just like a ki blast, worth a try._ I held up a palm and gathered the new Psi intertwined with my ki, and then fired what I considered to be a large blast. What I got in result resembled one of Vegeta's Big Bang attacks, except it was a green color.

"Okay, I'd say we don't have to concentrate much on this, unless were keeping the power down. That mixture of energy sure is potent," I said, rubbing my head a bit.

"I noticed," Gohan said, as he tried one of his own towards the same spot, same results, except that there appeared to be quite a scar on the all white surface. I shook my hair out, getting rid of the dirt that had been flying around.

"You may not want to do that so much, it seems to drain rather fast compared to normal. Might be better to just channel it for strength and speed, or whatever you can come up with," Gohan said in a low tone.

"You mean to use it in a different way. What other way is there?" I asked, gathering Psi into my palms again, without the ki this time. This time I tried to grasp it with my hand like I was holding a ki blast until I wanted to fire it. _Let's see, that futuristic vision I saw of myself basically said I could use an energy sword. I wonder…_ I immediately tried to manipulate the Psi energy into a thin, but concentrated shape that extended outwards. What I got was a blue sword extending three to four feet from my hand when I clasped my hand fully around it and stretched the energy outward. _Cool. Easy, but cool._ I took a few swipes with it, despite that fact I had no sword training before.

"Hey Gohan check this...out," I gasped slightly when I turned to see him. He was moving all over the place, but I noticed the movement was bordering on instant. When I tried to trace his speed, I kept losing him. He stopped long enough for me to see him put two fingers to his forehead. _Heh, figures._ I started practicing attacks and movements with my newly created Psi sword.

Interlude 16.1 –Treachery-

Aldaris walked down the temple halls alone, a deep frown on his face. It lightened a bit when he approached his destination.

"Ah Judicator, are you here to send a transmission back to the Conclave on Auir?" The attendant inside asked.

"Yes, leave me. I can handle the controls from here," Aldaris said with a slight sneer.

"Yes Judicator," the Templar acknowledged, exiting the chamber and leaving Aldaris in the dark. Aldaris punched in the coordinates for his home planet of Auir, and waited while the transmission sent itself across the vast reaches of space. He smiled, thinking his plan over and how it would work so great, assuming the council swayed his way. About five minutes went by in the chamber without activity, besides the occasional flicker of Aldaris' golden eyes. A loud beeping went off, signaling the transmission was received, and Aldaris waited for contact.

"Judicator Aldaris, to what do I owe the pleasure of this transmission?" A new voice asked. The screen popped up, showing a Templar figure with a gold head dressing around his head. The transmission was a bit distorted, but Aldaris paid no heed due to the extreme distance.

"Ah Chancellor Zorbon, I am merely informing you of our status as was requested of me upon departure of Auir. After all, the Conclave has always had a suspicion about Executor Tassadar," Aldaris bowed his head in mocked respect.

Zorbon sighed, "Some of us have that suspicion. I have always supported him, and I will continue that policy until sufficient evidence is provided that he is a traitor. Now then, what of the Zerg on the backwater Terran planet you landed upon? It's bad enough that your fleet had to chase them into another dimension and galaxy, but you are fortunate that we gave you and Tassadar such leeway."

"Unfortunately Chancellor, the Executor has been bordering on the fine line of sanity as of late. First he ordered all of the air support troops to remain in space even as we were just establishing a base of operations on the planet. Afterwards he made contact with a band of suspicious Terrans on the surface that was followed by a massive Zerg attack on our main base. The rogue Terrans slaughtered most of our troops. It was blind luck that we made it out alive when I gave out the distress call that pulled our support troops back to the surface. Meanwhile Tassadar continues his secret alliance with the rogue Terrans, I suspect that they may be agents of the Overmind itself! Their appearance led the Zerg right to us, you must do something about this Chancellor!" Aldaris pleaded, keeping his face relatively straight. Zorbon took a few seconds to react, before gathering himself.

"Just what is going on here Aldaris? You can't expect me to believe these claims without sufficient evidence. I won't give in to any of this without it!"

Aldaris let a very slim grin go by his face, "The recording device from inside my armor plate should be of some use then Chancellor, I'm sending it to you now!" Aldaris inserted the small card like device, almost grinning ear to ear now. Zorbon received the video feed an instant later, and watched it from his office. It displayed things from Tassadar issuing similar orders to destroy a Zerg squad that left themselves vulnerable to attack, to meeting the Saiyans, to the battle involving the Zerg in which a few unlucky Protoss got in the way of ki blasts, to finally Tassadar talking the alliance over with Prince Vegeta. But the video came with no audio at all, which left out any of Vegeta's actual words with the Executor. Zorbon lowered his head a bit, letting the information soak in.

"Chancellor, our troops are ready to begin open mutiny against us if something isn't done soon! Tassadar must be dealt with as soon as possible before this happens! If he isn't, I fear the Zerg may escape with the help of these rogue Terrans," Aldaris explained in a slightly desperate sounding voice.

Zorbon took a deep breath before speaking, "What do we know about the powers of these Terrans?" Aldaris told him everything about the Saiyans, from the ki ability, to the flying, right down to the two mystics that possessed Psi potential.

"How much has Tassadar told them about the use of Psi?" Zorbon asked, leaning close with his six large fingers intertwined under his chin. Aldaris quickly realized that Zorbon was still on the fence and that his edited visuals hadn't helped his situation. But with his very next answer, he could sway Zorbon completely.

Aldaris falsely sighed, "He has hinted on demonstration and direct training within a few days, sir." Zorbon"s face fell even more. Aldaris smiled until the Chancellor looked back up.

"Okay Aldaris, you win. In two days I will present this information to the Conclave council meeting. Know that this will create a bit of havoc on our side of things, but it will settle. Until then you do not speak of this to anyone else! I will contact you when we have rendered a decision on Executor Tassadar's status. Handle this situation carefully; if these Terrans are indeed capable of these extreme abilities then we may have already lost the battle before it's begun. Do what is necessary to disable them, then take care of the Zerg before they get away," Zorbon ordered with a heavy heart.

"It will be done by your word, Chancellor!" Aldaris bowed.

"If at all possible, isolate one of these Terrans for examination! I want to find out how they perform those abilities and if it's possible for our race to adapt technology to counteract it," Zorbon ordered again.

Aldaris was already a mile ahead of him, "Yes Chancellor, I know just the one!" The screen went black and Aldaris sat back in his chair, full grin on his face. His final act of faith had just turned the war in a new direction, and he couldn't be happier.

"Oh yes, I know just the one!"

**-**

Hours later, Tassadar sat at dinner, sipping on what his race considered to be fine wine. Aldaris strode into the room in almost a swagger.

"Confident about something you'd like to share, Judicator?" Tassadar asked.

"I sense our victory approaching, that is all."

Tassadar grunted slightly, "Yes the situation certainly looks better than it did, but don't get cocky Aldaris! We've been in this kind of situation before when the Zerg slip away like they have a habit of doing, don't jump to conclusions!"

"Indeed, but I sense a change in power on the horizon, I can't wait for it!" Aldaris chuckled as he sipped his own wine, not catching the look of suspicion on Tassadar's face.

-

"So can a device be made to those specifications?" Aldaris asked his scientist.

"Yes Judicator, we should be able to build such a device that can either restrict, and possibly absorb the energy known as ki, that won't be difficult. We already have Psi inhibitors for Templars who have committed treachery, it's only a matter of changing the energy frequency, and our scans have picked that up from the Saiyans already. The only tricky part will be to compensate for how much strain it can take before it breaks. Any outside energy influence may destroy the device!"

"I don't care about that, and it shouldn't be a problem anyway as long as we get them all at once. Then, after I probe them on how to summon ki energy, we can dispose of them. This is what the Conclave wishes; so do not inform the Executor on this. He will soon be tried for treason! The less the enemy knows, the better!" Aldaris said.

"Understood Judicator, I will begin work on the devices immediately!" The scientist scurried away and back to work in his lab as Aldaris left with a large smile on his face. Had he stuck around any longer, or gone the other way. He would have seen the one Protoss warrior that he feared more than any, Fenix.

-

"Hey Gohan, toss me a big ki blast, watch what I can do with this thing!" I shouted at him. He threw a big gold ball at me, easily the size of a house. I grinned, pulling my energy sword into the physical plane and into a ready position. I let the ball get close enough before letting my Psi flash into the sword. I swung down first, cutting the ki ball in half, then across, cutting it into fourths. Then I swung diagonally twice, making eight harmless ki balls that all flew off target and harmlessly to the ground, evaporating back into nothing.

"Nice, but how about this?" he shouted, vanishing. I shifted my hands just a bit by reaction to this, pulling my sword back a bit and getting ready for an attack. Next thing I saw was a gold ki ball next to my ear, very capable of taking my head off.

"Oh really? You think just because you figured out instant transmission doesn't mean I don't have a counter for it!" I said with a sly smile.

"You can't counter if your head is missing," he said from barely a foot away.

"And you and Videl will have a lot of trouble if my head does vanish!" I said, nodding towards my swords position, which never moved after he had appeared there. He extinguished the ki ball instantly, while I moved the sword away from between his legs.

"Heh, maybe I need to work on where I appear," he said, giving off a Son grin.

"I'd say, you'd be scared for life," I said, letting the Psi sword vanish. We had been practicing for nearly three days, so I had plenty of time to figure out my new sword technique, its end and outs anyway. We had each slept and ate what we could once, other than that we had done nothing but practice some of our abilities. We figured out how I had healed Mom before, by spreading a thin layer of mixed energy over another and moving it around very slowly while it healed the person. It seemed to help to think positively about it, mostly because a negative thought or two would likely make me slip up.

"Well, I think we have the whole calling it up thing down, but that power is unpredictable. We should refrain from using it too much other than special techniques and sensing. We don't know what it may actually do on the outside. As for the other form, well we probably shouldn't try to do that again until we've mastered the transformation. I don't know about you, but that one was harder than when I first went Super Saiyan in here training with Dad. It was easier to achieve, but emotional control was almost nonexistent," Gohan shrugged.

"I agree, I felt a lot of power while I was in that form, not to mention that it exhausted us once we reverted. I'm not quite sure about yours, but my ki and my Psi feel like they are at about the same level as far as energy goes. Since I was only transformed once I couldn't tell you if they were truly stuck together or separate like they are now. It really felt like they had been fused now that I think about it, but still manageable," I said.

"Still weird that our eyes changed to blue once we started using Psi in here. While you were sword swinging, I put the energy away and looked in the mirror, my eyes were black again," he looked quite puzzled.

"Maybe its like a signal to everyone else or something, like don't piss us off," I suggested, catching his weird expression again as I put my Psi back into the depths of my so-called energy well.

"Well yours changed again too, oh well. Let's get out of here, no doubt only a few minutes has gone by outside, so Vegeta probably already pacing, heh," Gohan chuckled along with me about the prince's lack of patience.

"Wouldn't it be a good idea to spend the whole year in here? You know, try and master it? You know that will be what he suggests. The situation out there certainly gives us that kind of time," I suggested.

"We could, but we still don't know much about this power. Tassadar seemed willing to educate us a little more if we were able to finally bring our hidden energy to the surface, which we've done. With the Earth still in danger, I don't want to be in here longer than we have to just because the situation could change at any moment. I don't completely trust the Protoss, not all of them anyway," Gohan added.

"Fine with me then. What do you suppose we should call that transformation anyway?" I asked.

"Super Mystic sound good?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes slightly, "How original, but it works for me."

-

"What is the meaning of this you brats? You were barely in there for ten minutes alone! We told you to take all the time you need! You need much more time than that, get back in there!" Vegeta roared when we emerged. Piccolo didn't really say anything to the contrary, just stood there with a glaring stare that seemed to penetrate my eyes.

"Ah lay off Vegeta, I'm sure the boys know what they're doing. Gotta let kids decide things for themselves!" Goku proclaimed, munching on an apple. _Well he was the last one I expected that from._

"Nonsense Kakarot, it takes an enormous amount of time to master ones energy! These two are obviously slacking to get out of it, well tough luck boys!" Vegeta declared, stretching his neck muscles, his energy rising.

"_Looks like we may need to prove a point here Gohan, Vegeta always does that right before he attacks during a sparring match,_" I thought to him. He nodded as we both powered up and let Psi enter our physical bodies, our eyes shifting to blue. Now that we had accessed it right before what appeared to be a short battle, I found that I could focus a hell of a lot better. I had heard Psi mentioned as energy of both the mind and spirit, and it seemed correct.

"What the?" Piccolo and Goku said at the same time. Vegeta didn't react that much to it, until he suddenly transformed to Super Saiyan two and charged an attack.

"You brats think you've had enough training, time to show me I'm wrong! Atomic Blast!" He shouted as he prepared to unleash his new finishing move on us from about thirty feet away. Gohan and I were light years ahead of him. In the time chamber we had found that our so-called Psi mode could enhance our senses for quicker reactions to such threats, even quicker than if we were fully powered up with ki. Being extra focused was an added bonus to this.

"_Okay, time to show him bro! Use your sword like you did during practice. I'll teleport and attack from the blindside!"_ Gohan suggested. I gave him a mental nod, calling up my new Psi sword and extending it to about three and a half feet long, preparing to test the new abilities I learned in the time chamber. The golden blast of death came in quickly, and I jabbed forward as it arrived, piercing the middle and stopping it. For several seconds the blue sword struggled with the blast, lightning crackled around the sword and me as it did. I noticed Goku and Piccolo's concerned looks.

"_Verto, what are you doing? That blast could kill you if you don't get away!"_ Piccolo's message came across loud and clear.

"_No it won't, watch this!"_ I answered. As I did, I turned the sword to the right about a quarter turn. This caused the properties of the sword to change from just a normal blade of light to an absorbent sword. I found this out by playing around with it in the time chamber, seeing its different properties were kind of nice to know. It could disrupt, deflect or absorb energy blasts, depending on how I held it, and of course it was sharper than anything else. Deflecting was much easier than the other two, and disruption took a precise stab or slice. Absorption was obvious and rather easy, but it was a difficult the first few times. The blast energy filed into the Psi blade, drawing a thin yellow line in the middle of it as it filled up with the ki power. Now, as I had learned through trial and error, I had a few choices. I could either absorb the energy straight into my body and power myself up with someone else's ki, or keep it in the sword and use it in multiple ways before it runs out. This time though, I kept it in the sword, and it turned completely golden as the blast filled it up. The look on Vegeta's face would make anyone laugh. I gave the sword a few swishes, watching the golden lightning crackle around it as I did. Vegeta's expression turned back to anger as he noticed Gohan coming in on him.

"Oh, you wanna go now do you?" he shouted, punching at Gohan's vanishing form. He was instantly floored from the other side since Gohan did not go that far.

"Wow, did you see that Piccolo?" Goku exclaimed with slight excitement, more surprise.

"Yes, that was your instant transmission move!" Piccolo said, though watching me more intently. I held my sword steadily forward, pointing at the fallen Saiyan, waiting for the right moment when Vegeta got back up. When he did, I released the ki energy from the sword. The golden Psi-enhanced ki energy raced at Vegeta, plowing over him and racing into the sky, where it vanished into space. Vegeta was a mess on the ground. He was still powered up, and more than likely able to fight for a long time coming, but several bones had been broken. He was bleeding in multiple places, and his armor was torn to shreds. I leaped up into the air, coming down at him at blinding speed. He gasped as I came down, but was smart enough to phase out before I dug the sword into a downward slash. He obviously wasn't prepared for this kind of display from two different energies. Since he could not sense or manipulate Psi, he was very unaware of what it could do despite having fought a Zealot earlier in the day.

"Impressive boy, I didn't expect this! It's a nice challenge to have once in awhile, but I want to see the great power I sensed earlier, otherwise disappear!" He charged up his ki, hitting Super Saiyan three quickly, and then bringing his palms from the sides to forward.

"FINAL FLASH!" he bellowed. _Sorry Vegeta, I have to disappoint you again._ I turned the blade around in my hands again, shifting back to where it had been before. _I better deflect this one, that's a lot of power coming in and I'm still not sure what limits this thing has._ I swung the sword to the side and slammed it into the beam when it arrived much like a baseball swing, sending it flowing into space just like the last one. My sword barely stayed intact, flashing a little from such a power display and draining me. Vegeta's expression was perplexing to say the least, he looked half disappointed, half surprised. He powered down to normal and just about dropped to his knees. He was still feeling the damage after being hit with his reflected attack, going Super Saiyan three probably didn't help him much.

"Nice sword you have there boy, got anything else?" he asked. I sighed, pulling the Psi sword back into my body and extinguished it. I walked over to where he took a knee, trying to gather himself. Using my hands to mix the energy first, I poured a green wave from my hands slowly, letting it wash over him slowly as I tried to maintain a positive thought base.

"What are you doing brat?" he questioned in a threatening tone.

"Unless you want to end up deep fried, shut up and don't move!" I warned. Seeing what I had done to his best ki attacks, he shut up. As my power churned through him, his wounds closed up and his ki rose back to normal. When I sensed he was fully healed, I pulled my energy back to me, standing back and taking a step back. He checked himself over, before giving off the priceless looks of surprise.

"You healed me? I thought only the little Namek could do that! So what Bulma said was true after all!" While it was my first real time situation of actually doing it, I was relieved that we figured it out on our own and not let some trance give me a crash course on it. While in the time chamber, Gohan and I did spar a little to test the ability. We found that healing with Psi only could recharge ki when we were spent. However I could only use it on others, and the mixture of ki and Psi could completely heal injuries. Gohan attempted this in the time chamber after I had gotten the bad end of an instant transmission beam attack. He found that he couldn't focus enough energy at such a low rate to use it, luckily we had Senzu beans. When it was my turn I didn't have any troubles, nor did I have any problem with tearing him up beforehand when he kept his power down.

"So can we go home now?" I asked.

"Hmph, you still have yet to show me all of your hidden powers," Vegeta barked.

"And it's a dangerous power to access, it's just like Super Saiyan for the first time, unpredictable! We've both agreed not to use it unless absolutely necessary, besides, our new abilities will be enough. This Psi power can't be taken lightly you guys, the mixture with ki is even more powerful, and it's dangerous if it falls into the wrong or inexperienced hands. That form we transformed into unlocked the basics of it. We have agreed to master the basics before going any further; one bad move could destroy everyone on this planet. We tested enough of that power to know!" Gohan said sternly.

"Tested enough of it huh? What did you do, color the floor in there?" Vegeta grunted. _Damn he guesses good._

"Yeah you could say that. Verto and I experimented a little and found that combining a lot of ki and Psi into one energy blast can have some really destructive properties. It opened up a hole in the time chamber floor where some lava came up and spread around a bit," Gohan said catching the eye of Piccolo.

"You opened up a volcano in there?!" Piccolo suddenly roared. Vegeta looked partially amazed as well, as he had thought it was one of the toughest surfaces ever created. We both gave him our best Goku imitations.

"Its sealed now, but that's my point. If one of us were to get too angry.." Gohan pointed out.

"Fine! I see your point boy, you don't have to spell it out unless it's to that clown you call a father! Perhaps it is best that way, let's head back home now," Vegeta complied, jumping down the side of the platform.

"Did you really tear a hole in there?" Piccolo asked.

"Yeah, we're still trying to figure out where the lava came from," Gohan laughed slightly nervous. Piccolo looked as if he had been babysitting Goten and Trunks too long.

**A/n: Atomic blast is the move Majin Vegeta uses on Fat Buu that rips a hole right through him, for those who didn't know that.**


	18. To The Front

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 17: To the Front**

"Verto, can you teach me how to do that? That is so cool!" Trunks and Goten both wailed when I demonstrated the Psi sword move.

I shook my head and put the blade away, "Maybe when you grow up," I said in a low enough voice so they couldn't hear me.

"So can Gohan do one of those too?" Videl asked.

"No, I worked on my movement capabilities first. I can do Instant Transmission now just like Dad can!" Gohan said, sounding pleased.

"Don't you have to sense someone's energy at a certain point for that to work correctly?" Roshi asked.

"Yes, but instead of concentrating on someone's ki, I have to locate their Psi. That is constant rather its powered up or not. A strong spirit really shows up well, and as far as I can tell, its hard to hide," Gohan explained.

"Well, before you go into showing off your little moves, keep in mind that tomorrow we will be leading an offensive against the Zerg with the assistance of the Protoss. Everyone be ready to go in the morning!" Vegeta barked before heading for his precious gravity chamber. I sighed slightly, _he never changes, oh well._ I trudged up the stairs, where I sensed Fasha sulking slightly inside my room. _Oh boy, well I suppose she probably feels neglected or something, I should spend time with her._ As I headed for the stairs Vegeta came back into the area, heading straight for me. He pulled me aside from the others, obviously wanting a word or two.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Keep your woman out of tomorrow's events, I want her to stay here," he said.

"I know, for her own protection right? Or I may fly off the handle again if she gets hurt, I kinda figured that!" I said grumpily.

"That's not it," he growled.

"What is it then?" I asked.

"She will be the only protection for the women here, the only realistic protection anyway. I can't completely count on the boys, the robot bitch or the idiot." By idiot, he was referring to Yamcha, if he said weakling coward he would have meant Satan. If he said moron, well that could belong to anyone, but mostly Goku.

"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but I'd feel better if there was a Saiyan here to protect my family. Kakarot has similar feelings on the matter," Vegeta said. He almost sounded worried, which was very unlike him.

"Sure I'll see what I can do. But one question, how did you trust the Protoss so quickly?" I asked.

"I don't," he said quickly, turning the other way. That left me confused, but he answered my next question before I asked it.

"They just happen to have enough firepower up in space to blow up this planet at a moment's notice and I don't think we could stop them if things go south!" he explained before walking off. _I see your point. _

-

"Nothing is wrong, you were just doing what our prince ordered! It's not bothering me!" Fasha whined.

"Yes it is. I can see it in your eyes clear as day, and I can sense it," I said plainly.

"Well its just that we haven't gotten to spend much time together. Me or you are always off to a battle without the other, and I don't know if I can be a good mate or not if me and you are not together!" _So that's what this is about._

"Are you trying to prove yourself to Vegeta or something?" I asked first. She glanced up, surprised that maybe I had figured it out.

"Or to me?" I added. She paused, not knowing how to answer.

I did it for her, "You should know you don't have to prove yourself to me Fasha, and as for Vegeta, don't worry about him. If it's an issue, I'll worry about it."

"But if I don't prove myself then he may kill me, or order us apart!"

"And if he did he would have a lot of trouble on his hands from me, he knows that as well," I said with a slight smile. She didn't look very relieved.

"I'm not completely familiar with all the Saiyan customs and rituals or anything. Hell, half of them I could care less about and the other half doesn't make a ton of sense, but that's to me. Since were not on Planet Vegita anyway, why should we have to abide by them twenty-four hours a day?"

Fasha looked almost petrified, "He may think I'll back out on the deal, he may think I would dishonor you!"

"I know he doesn't think that, is that why you act so independent around Mom and Videl when I'm not around? I've only seen you around Bardock and the crew. Are you afraid that he would be mad if you socialized, or even made friends? Is it really that bad to think about?"

"On Vegita, other than your crew, you would rarely socialize with others unless you were out looking for a fight, a mate, or to dishonor one," she said with her head down.

"Well not on Earth, its okay here. Now don't get me wrong, if you were out in a bar and some drunk came up trying to get with you, yeah that's bad. But you don't have to be tough with everyone, most everyone around here are my friends. You can at least speak to them if they try to talk to you. You don't have to give everyone the cold shoulder," I explained.

She looked relieved almost, "You sure don't act like many Saiyans I know."

"Funny, Mom says I act too Saiyan sometimes. You're not exactly acting like many that I know either, you're being too emotional," I laughed.

"Well that's your fault isn't it?" she asked.

"I guess so, but the emotions seem to really drive the Super Saiyan power in the upward direction. Beats being regular old third class eh?" I cocked a grin at her.

She laughed before frowning again, "But what if the prince doesn't approve of social behavior with the others?"

"You're strong enough to make your own decisions, prince or no prince. What's he gonna do, tell you that you can't come out unless I'm here? You're no slave Fasha, and I would never dream of treating you like one either, you be yourself!"

"Thanks, I needed that slap in the face," she said, lying back on the bed.

"I wouldn't call it a slap in the face, more like a wake up call," I said, relieved myself that she hadn't gone into hysterics, "Now that's out of the way, I do have a request, but you certainly don't have to honor it. And it probably contradicts everything I just said."

"What's that love?" she asked.

"I want you to stay here with the others when we go to battle tomorrow. I'm sure we can go about this easily, but I'd rather stay on the safe side since Mom and the others will not have any real protection should the Zerg sneak attack while were in their home turf," I explained.

"What, why? I can handle myself you know!"

"It's not about you Fasha, did you hear what I said? It's about Mom and the others! The boys and Eighteen will be here, but I don't think that will be enough should anything go down here. I know you can handle yourself in a battle, if Vegeta didn't think that than he wouldn't have even allowed you to come this far with us. And he definitely wouldn't want you protecting his family. Please do it for me, not for him, for me!" I begged her.

She sighed, "Fine, but you owe me a sparring match! And if you end up dead or something, don't you dare think I won't chase you down to wherever you go!"

"Deal!"

Interlude 17.1 –Planning-

The Overmind watched over its minions as always with a knowing eye. His Cerebrates were working quickly on their new plans. Everything had been thrown astray thanks to the Protoss, but even they would not deny him.

"Zasz, make sure our defenses hold, the Protoss will not be alone tomorrow. I don't want them getting within one hundred miles of here!"

"Yes father!"

"Daggoth, draw all the resources you have to in order to repel this attack, we must not fail!"

"Yes my master!"

"Kerrigan, I want you standing by here. I have a feeling we may need your special abilities as well!"

"Understood!" she bowed.

"Cerebrate, is our new weapon ready to go?"

"Yes, the Lurkers are being deployed as we speak. The Protoss won't know what hit them!"

"Great father, I have intercepted a transmission from one of the Protoss camps back towards their home world Auir!" Daggoth announced.

"Let us hear it!" The audio and video came in on one the Overmind's pods, showing the conversation between Judicator Aldaris and the Conclave Chancellor Zorbon. After it ended, The Overmind flicked its one eye a few times, almost like a smile.

"Yes, this will work in our favor. It seems that this Aldaris is quite deceptive and power hungry. A flaw in many of his kind, and one that will lead to his quick downfall. If he indeed conjures a way to capture the Saiyans, then all we have to do is sneak in once they're disabled. Our own enemy's plan is going to help us, what fools they are!"

"How shall we proceed then?" Zasz asked.

"As planned, however, should our lines start to cave in, retreat and regroup. They won't get this far tomorrow, but it will give the Protoss that false comfort zone they seem to prefer and all we must do is wait for the time to strike!"

"Understood!" Everyone resumed their current activities, leaving the Overmind by itself. _Yes, very soon, the power I have sought out will be mine! _

-

"Hurry up brat!" Vegeta's voice roared through the compound. I rolled my eyes as I was saying a proper goodbye to Fasha.

"Good luck you little worm, tear it up out there!" she said, planting one on my cheek.

"You be careful here too, never know what may happen with two different sets of aliens duking it out on a planet they aren't even apart of. Whatever happens though, don't worry about me. The way I'm feeling, someone is going to have a bad day if they screw with me!" I said in full confidence. I quickly left and joined the team downstairs. Mom was in the process of asking Vegeta if she could come along, to bet met with a quick no. After all of the goodbyes, one that was difficult since Videl would not let go of Gohan, we took flight to the Protoss main line where we were to meet. I flew between Tora and Piccolo, a little behind Vegeta, who was in the lead of course. When we arrived at the Protoss camp, we were slightly surprised to find so many warriors lining the grounds. There had to be at least five thousand of them. Then we glanced upward to see countless Protoss ships in the air, mostly small but quick attack flyers, but there were some big ones too.

"Ah Prince Vegeta, how good of you to join us," Aldaris said as we landed nearby him, "And you to, what was your name again child?"

"It's Verto you old prune!" I shouted at him.

"Oh that's right. My apologies for my shaky memory, names escape me sometimes when they are insignificant!" Aldaris sneered.

"Perhaps you need another beating to remember me then!" I warned, stepping towards him.

Piccolo's hand stopped me, "Don't kid, that's the last thing we need right now!"

"Quite a shame you don't have any better manners. Maybe if we find your carcass out in the battlefield we can teach you some!" Aldaris snapped back, trying to get the last word in.

"That's if you have the guts to go there at all!" I declared. He must have run out of things to say to that, or he shut up because Tassadar had just arrived. As Vegeta and Goku discussed things with Tassadar, my eyes wondered over to the Protoss troops. One in particular stood out, he wore a lighter gold armor than the rest of them, along with a lot of tattoos, so many his skin was officially a different color. He was practicing with his Psi blades as I walked up to him. When I got a closer look I realized it was Fenix, the Praetor, whatever that meant. He didn't pay much heed as I walked up, merely a glance before swishing the air some more.

"Hey, you're the one called Fenix right?"

"That is correct, you're the special Saiyan child Verto. I hear you can now control Psi energy!" Fenix said, sounding impressed.

"I'm still working on that, but its getting there," I grinned slightly.

He grunted in response, "You should watch yourself out there, I sense unseen enemies about. A child such as you shouldn't be out here, but that is not my place to decide who fights," he said, turning away.

"How do those work anyway?" I asked, referring to his Psi blades.

"It draws on the one's inner power automatically when attached, it is a way to determine worthy warriors. Though it can be mistaken from time to time," he explained. _Must be a religious thing. _

"Can I try them?" I asked.

"No, they are not to be touched by any other than the Protoss," he said sternly.

"Okay I guess, don't want to break your code or anything. But what's this about being mistaken? Every Protoss I've seen can control Psi to an extent," I said.

"Depends on what you mean by control. Most basic warriors can only dream about it, as some are more suited for fighting and others to be Templar. Some are not suited for that either but make their way up somehow. Damn noble bloods," he cursed.

"Noble bloods?" I asked.

"Yes, some Protoss believe just because they are of noble blood that they are better than all the others, ha! I've seen the high and mighty nobles run from a battle while the true warriors fight!"

"Is Aldaris one of those noble bloods?" I asked, while not truly knowing.

"Humph, yeah you could say that. I'll never know how he got this far, he's never deserved it. Always trying to take command of a fleet just so he's in charge. Granted he is talented, but I sense corruption within. Do not bother with him," Fenix warned.

I snorted, "He's nothing, I wasted him in one blow!"

"Don't be so overconfident about your abilities. Aldaris is very tricky and cunning; he has ways of going around obstacles rather than facing them head on. Lately I believe he is interested in your abilities, for what I don't know! As for your question of control, a lot of the warriors you have seen require technology to use our Psi energy, and it's also in place as an inhibitor so they do not succumb to corruption."

"Thanks, and I'll keep a eye out for any rogue Judicators," I nodded. A loud horn blew and I sensed Vegeta's energy rise.

"That's our cue, final orders are coming. Prepare for battle!" Fenix shouted to his fellow Zealots around him.


	19. Disrupted Control

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 18: Disrupted Control**

Vegeta's orders to us were pretty simple, stay on the ground with the Protoss unless they all got killed. Of course he didn't mention that little tidbit to them, but he figured it would lessen the risk of accidentally starting a war with them too. Everyone divided off in according with the Protoss divisions, with the other Saiyans going with the larger attack forces, something I really didn't like. Tora and I were in a group of four hundred Zealots in the southern area of the main continent, with seventy of the large dragoons coming up behind us with a few other machines of war called Reavers. They were basically like tanks as ran over small stuff and fired off big shots. We had marched a good ways from the southern encampment, probably about twenty miles, before I sensed anything other than Protoss and Saiyan. Unlocking my Psi proved wonders in detecting the Protoss, I even picked up their cloaked vessels in the air, but I wasn't sure how I was going to sense the Zerg at first. I found that the feeling of Zerg was like that of a magnet, and they were the metal coming towards us. Kind of strange really, more like a pulling feeling coming from them, only they were drawn to us in this case. I still detected some of that scattered energy with them, but not quite as intense. The incredibly hostile feeling though was ever present, more so than anything else I was familiar with outside of Vegeta getting pissed off. We didn't get to any creep land before the Zerg came in. Fortunately we had plenty of warning other than my senses, and the Protoss had scouted very well and had us warned a good ten minutes before the Zerg arrived. But when they did I was a bit surprised to see only a few little Zerglings running about on the ground. They didn't even make it to the Zealot line before the Dragoons had shot them down. Once they were dead, the Protoss signaled they hadn't picked anymore up. We kept moving on foot, though I had a nagging feeling that I wanted to fly. We reached strangely a clear area, the dead lands began around this area, but the field we were in was clear. Zerg signals were all over the place, but the Protoss technology was not detecting them. I glanced over at the senior Templar in charge of his troops, he looked about as confused as he could get. I ran over to him as the rest of the troops piled in.

"Hey, are your scanners picking anything up here?" I asked.

"Negative, but we are receiving some strange readings in this area. We should continue forward with caution," he suggested. I nodded, but I didn't have as much confidence about it.

"Hey Tora, are you getting that scattered feeling around this area?" I asked through the scouter.

"Yeah, a lot of it. Thought for sure you would of said something by now kid!"

"Sorry, my senses are picking them up differently now. You don't suppose.." I hit realization quickly. I jumped into the air and fired a small ki blast into the ground about thirty feet in front of the marching Zealots. Right away I heard all the psi blades turn on since they weren't ready for it, then I heard countless chatter about dumb kids getting antsy. But the ki blast hit the ground and struck something that popped out right away, some kind of creature's leg.

"They are burrowed again!" I shouted, though the message didn't need to be passed. Right away all of the dragoon's fired at the creature's leg, and the creature revealed itself fully. I simply could not describe this Zerg, except it resembled a Hydra, at least with the head and talons. But it was larger, hunched over on the ground, and seemed to have many tentacles on its back that looked like they could extend outward pretty easy.

"What the hell is that thing kid?" Tora asked, gliding up next to me.

"No clue," I said, stunned. The Protoss firing squad killed the new Zerg type pretty quick.

"Danger has passed, let's continue," the Templar announced, a message that came to my scouter because we put ours on the same frequency as their unique communication system.

"Danger hasn't passed, I still sense a lot of Zerg here!" I warned.

"Perhaps child you are simply experiencing anxiety. You should do your best to ignore it. Believe me, we Protoss always have that before a big battle!" the Templar said, ignoring me. I growled, but kept it down, maybe he was right.

"Hey kid, what's that down there?" Tora asked, pointing something out next to the trees. I gazed down just as a Zealot passed by what he was speaking of. Something was sticking out of the ground, barely, but there was some dirt moving next to it.

"Something is under the ground there too, it looks like some sort of thorn," I noted, then saw that it was starting to emerge about three feet above the surface, and it moved very fast towards the Protoss.

"Look out!" I shouted. Then all hell broke loose. From various places under the field, the same brown thorn like spikes popped up and moved all over the place, attacking the Protoss. It had to be more of those burrowed Hydras, whatever they were, and if each had one of those long tentacle with thorns all over... _Ah hell, this ain't gonna be good. _Since the tentacles were coming from all over the place under the soldier's feet, I couldn't pinpoint any of their origins. The soldiers got cut up quick; they couldn't even attack back because the tentacles were gone by the time they reacted. In barely two minutes, the battle was over. Dead Protoss warrior lay all over the place, and a few of the war machines blew up. We hadn't fired one shot off so not to kill the wrong people.

"This isn't good," Tora noted.

"No shit! Damn arrogant dickheads should have listened to me," I said, scanning for any underground movement, seeing none.

"Man they're just sitting there waiting for us to land," he whined slightly, firing a ki blast at the ground. When it hit, a whole lot of tentacles popped up and swung towards the impact, and a few of them crossed each other, producing an interesting shriek of pain. Tora and I looked at each other and grinned. Then we fired countless ki blasts all around the ground, impacting every inch of the surface. Like before, the brown tentacles popped up all over the place, and the shrieks of pain got louder and more frequent when we hit a few of them. I noticed that the feeling of Zerg didn't decrease at all, meaning there were either a lot of them, or none had died.

"Damn, we can't kill them all if they're under ground and we can't pinpoint them. Unless we use a huge blast, but we risk blowing the planet up if we push too hard, I wonder," Tora thought that one over.

"I got an idea Tora, these things like Psi right? I'll just release mine and float close to the ground. If they pop up to get me, you blast em!" I suggested.

"Good idea kid, just don't get to close!" Tora warned. I nodded, using my ki to call up my Psi power. Tora hadn't seen this yet, so he obviously did a double take. He shook it off quickly and went Super Saiyan, staying at level one. I dropped toward the ground, stopping about ten feet up or so, and waited. Nothing happened, so I drifted a little closer, to no avail.

"Damnit, what do we have to do to get them to come out?" Tora shouted down. I suddenly had an idea, and using one hand I called up my Psi Sword. After making sure I had a firm hold on it, I used my other hand to fire a ki blast directly ahead of me. Five different tentacles popped up in front of me. Using my speed, I raced in and sliced them all apart as they attacked the impact spot. I rose back up to observe the reaction. Pieces of brown tentacle lay here and there, but after a small cry of pain, nothing else was heard. I growled in frustration, making my energy rise a bit more.

"DAMN YOU ZERG BASTARDS, GET OUT HERE!" I shouted. I didn't expect a reaction, but I got one. All of a sudden there were at least forty to fifty of the large hydra like creatures on the ground, shaking off the dirt from being burrowed. My jaw managed to find more than enough room to let a swarm of bees come in. Tora didn't waste any time, and rained down ki blasts around me, striking the creatures. I phased out of the area, and back up to him, deactivating my sword and joining Tora in the blast fest. The Zerg cried and hissed as they were struck, dying quickly. And just like the Protoss had been slaughtered quickly, we had wiped out the Zerg squad.

"Well that was different," Tora said as he examined one of the burrowed Zerg we had killed. The thing was just as big as a regular Hydra, except hunched over it seemed more massive.

"Something I don't get though," I said.

"What?" he asked.

"I yelled at them and they all came out. Last time I checked the enemy doesn't do what you say, they left themselves wide open," I said, bewildered to say the least.

"That was a little strange, but these are Zerg, they're pretty mindless. Probably take whatever order they get and go with that, we better inform the camp what happened here!" he said, pressing the button on the scouter.

**-**

"So they just emerged after you shouted at them, that is not normal Zerg activity. However the Overmind and its Cerebrates are known to emit a similar energy signal to your own from time to time. Perhaps your energy disrupted their control. We shall investigate this later," Fenix said after we met up with his group. They were just to the north with Gohan and Broly, preparing to attack a large Zerg base there. According to their scouting reports, the large contingent of Zerg troops had been drawn to the north, where Goku, Vegeta, Bardock and Shugesh were ripping apart defenses before the Protoss troops came through and mopped up the leftovers.

"Anything strange with you Gohan?" I asked.

"Not really, other than the fact that the Zerg are feeling different now," he said, confused.

"Same here, I'm kind of surprised they didn't come right after me like usual, but then again, those things looked pretty grounded," I said, glancing over at Fenix.

"We may need to reconfigure our sensors to pick up these burrowed attackers, we've never encountered them either," he said, nodding to a Templar who rushed off to transmit that message back to base.

"Well if you four are ready, we are just awaiting signal from Executor Tassadar to continue onward and destroy the Zerg base about ten miles in that direction," Fenix pointed to the east. About fifteen more minutes went by before we got that signal, and we headed out on foot, though there were some air ships above us to provide support.

**Interlude 18.1- Plans unfolding-**

Aldaris grinned even more from his quarters. Though he felt very slight sorrow for the lost Protoss warriors, his beacon of light shined right back at him from the battle. He had been watching the feed from one of his cloaked observers as it replayed the short battle between their forces and the Zerg, and then the Saiyans against the Zerg. The Saiyans good intentions had just helped him win over the Conclave to his favor without even knowing it. The young Saiyan's powers had somehow called the Zerg out of their hiding spot and with a little editing, he could easily make it seem that the Saiyans were on the side of the Zerg. It was too perfect to pass up_._ He immediately set about editing the feed, then headed for the communication chamber. He was very fortunate to find that the council was already in meeting back on Auir, and awaited his transmission. After he sent the feed, he managed to see several faces of anger and disgust. Somehow he kept a straight face and kept a fake frown. Chancellor Zorbon eventually took up the whole screen with his face.

"Aldaris, I have shared all of the information you have sent me with the council. I will ask this once, is there any false information in this? Is everything you've sent me true?"

"Yes, of course Chancellor," he lied.

"We will discuss this and contact you in one standard hour with our decision. If anything else prudent occurs, please send it to us immediately!" Zorbon said sharply, cutting the feed. Aldaris's grin got even wider once the transmission had ended. He grabbed a remote transmitter and exited, heading straight for the science labs. His personal scientist was there, working on many devices that the Judicator had ordered.

"These are the ki restriction devices then?" Aldaris asked, looking at the bracelet-like hunk of metal.

"Yes Judicator, these will prevent any ki from being used by whoever is wearing it. And it is nearly indestructible as long as there is no outside energy surges, that is its one weakness," he said.

"That won't be a problem, is the larger ki disruptor ready?"

"Yes, but we only have one charge, and it only lasts for five minutes in a radius of five hundred meters. It will disable all ki outside normal parameters in that area for that amount of time. Any attempt to gather it will not succeed, but they would all have to be in the area for it to work on all of them! It could take up to an hour to build up the charge since we have not tested it yet!"

"That won't be a problem either, just make sure my devices are ready by the end of the day! And have some extras made. There are some more of these fighters back at their home base in the west, but all of them are much weaker than the ones here. Capturing them will not be a problem either," Aldaris said, satisfied.

"Understood Judicator," the scientist bowed before continuing his duties.

"Croton, this will get you a promotion, I promise you that!" Aldaris claimed. The scientist looked quite thrilled to know that.

-

Kibito Kai was busily messing with his fishing pole, trying to catch a big one for dinner. Old Kai had already given up trying to catch one and had resorted to reading his comics. He was enjoying a classic comic about a character known as Green Lantern before a sudden image flashed into his head. Being totally unprepared for it, he cried out in pain and fell backwards. Kibito was up in a flash and ran over to his elder, sitting him back up and checking for any injuries.

"Elder, are you hurt, what happened?"

"I was hit with a sudden image of the future, but I couldn't hold it long enough to know exactly what it was and when it's going to occur. Let me concentrate and see if I can pick it up again!" Old Kai grumbled as he sat up and refocused his thoughts. He found what he had seen quickly and replayed it in his mind.

"Something awful is about to happen down on the mortal plane, something we weren't prepared for. However I cannot pinpoint the source, nor the event. The vision barely lasted a second, not long enough for me to determine what it was!"

"Should we warn Goku and the others?" Kibito asked.

"Warn them of what, that we're seeing things? That wouldn't do any good! Until we have details we can only watch and wait! Besides, we should not be interfering with what is already going on, that may not help our friends on Earth. I only hope that they can pull through this tragedy that is going to occur, I fear that the powers we have unleashed may indirectly cause the destruction of that planet!"

"I see, should I at least inform King Yemma or North Kai? Perhaps they can provide insight on this?" Kibito asked.

"That would normally be a good idea, however we both know of North Kai's tendency to try to prevent things from happening. Since we do not know the outcome, we should wait. Interfering may mess it all up," Old kai said, returning to his comics. Kibito glanced over at the crystal ball before returning to his fishing, wondering what exactly the old man had seen.


	20. The Infested Saiyan

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 19: The Infested Saiyan**

"Take this you damn freaks!" I shouted, firing a Galic Gun into a large pack of air type Zerg, killing most of them. We had been lucky and had caught them off guard for once when we rolled into their base. We four Saiyans picked one half of the base to tear apart, the Protoss took the other. Broly and Gohan stuck to the ground, dodging subterranean tentacles that liked to pop up from time to time thanks to the Sunken Colonies. Most of the Zerg were on the other side of the large base, fighting with the Protoss. Since the numbers were quite reduced, no one had even gotten close to using up their power. Broly and Tora hadn't even transformed to Super Saiyan yet, never mind any stronger. I was probably the only one who powered up much at all, but me being weaker than the others had something to do with it. In less than fifteen minutes since entering the large base, most of it was destroyed. The rest was soon to follow as we were taking our time. The Protoss didn't fare quite as well as we did in tearing up the base, but still conquered their end pretty well. Fenix probably had over two hundred kills by himself, he was very impressive to watch considering he apparently couldn't channel any energy at all. We watched as the Protoss finished off the primary hive cluster, which was barely defended at all once we were done with the Zerg. It blew up shortly afterward, to my dismay, showering everyone with Zerg blood.

"Ugh, I'm hitting the bath first when we get home!" I declared.

"Well done my friends, pity these Zerg couldn't be more of a challenge!" Fenix shouted as his comrades raised their Psi blades in celebration.

"Better watch what you say," Broly warned, but the Protoss were cheering so loud that no one else heard it.

Gohan happened to look out the corner of his eye, "Hey Fenix, I think we missed one over there! You guys wanna do the honors?"

Fenix glanced over at the remaining Zerg building, "Men, take it out!" The Zealots and Dragoons happily coasted over to destroy the last Zerg building that stood a bit away from the rest. I got a better look to see it was a Nydus canal, meaning the Zerg could have backup troops waiting to come through. _Wait a sec, I never saw any come through there. Either they are getting weaker, or something is up!_ Something was indeed up, because a few seconds later I sensed a ki presence coming from the canal opening. But the signal threw me. It felt like Zerg, but it also felt like a Saiyan! Tora and Gohan must have noticed pretty quickly too, as their power went up. Broly didn't react much, but did glance over. The Zealots ran up to the canal, slicing it open on its outer walls. The remaining Dragoons scampered up and shot at it. As their Psi blasts hit the building, it exploded. But then I saw it had exploded from the inside just as the large power appeared there. Golden light filled the view before dimming and revealing a golden form at what used to be the canal opening. I heard Tora gasp once he got a good look. I did as well and right away I thought I had seen a ghost. Standing at the opening was Borgos.

"Borgos! You're alive?" Tora was more than a bit surprised. Borgos didn't answer, but started to walk forward a little. His appearance had changed drastically, but his ki was definitely Borgos.

"What the hell happened to him?" Gohan asked first. That was hard to say. His head was half normal, the other half looked to be covered in Zerg attachments. His skin was a sickly green all over. His body was partially Saiyan, but looked mostly Zerg. His chest was covered in what looked to be Zerg skin, but was very rough like some sort of body armor. His tail was completely entrenched with Zerg tissue as well, totally green. His legs were about half and half.

"Oh my god, he's infested!" I stuttered out. The Protoss had already figured that part out and started to attack.

"No don't!" Gohan shouted. Started was all the Protoss could do before Borgos' power erupted and blasted into Super Saiyan two. The energy he was putting out was incredible! That sent every alien nearby flying right by us. Gohan, Tora and I were pushed back slightly before regaining ourselves with our ki, though Broly didn't even budge.

Fenix had managed to stay put right behind Gohan, "Is that a Saiyan or a human?"

"That's a Saiyan, he was our teammate before the Zerg got him. We were certain he had been killed and even buried him!" Tora exclaimed.

"He looks pretty alive to me! He's infested as well, we must destroy it!" Fenix declared. I measured Borgos' power, despite the half Zerg feeling. The measurement I received was not pretty, and it had nothing but anger behind it. Borgos was now as strong as Gohan in his mystic form, and it felt like he was still powering up!

"No way, how could they increase his power that much?" Gohan gasped. Broly looked a bit more nervous now, though it was hard to tell if he ever was nervous. I powered up quickly then, shooting for my maximum in mystic form. Gohan and Tora followed suit, hitting their maximums respectively as Tora shot into Super Saiyan two form. Broly didn't power up until after we were done, but he stayed at level one and stood off to the side a bit with his arms crossed. When I re-measured everyone's power, I determined that unless I could hit my Super Mystic level, I stood no chance in a straight on fight, even with Kaioken. Hitting my Super mystic level was not going to be a walk in the park, as neither me nor Gohan had mastered it yet so it wasn't worth the drain in power. Tora was the same, without having another level to rely on. Gohan may not be able to do it, but stood the closest chance. Broly seemed to know that his speed decrease would hurt in a fight like this, so he didn't bother going to his ultra-buff level. _Looks like were going to have to outsmart him. _

Once Tora realized he wouldn't match him, he dropped back with Fenix and me as Gohan stepped up to the plate. Borgos came a little closer, his face looking to be a cross between anger and pain. Then he attacked with incredible speed, dashing straight at Gohan. Gohan dodged aside, ki lightning crackling around him as he did. Borgos turned and fired a big ki blast from near point blank range. Even Gohan wasn't fast enough to dodge that one, and the blast hit as aimed. Borgos gave off a smirk that reminded me of Majin Vegeta, without the Zerg tissues. When the dust cleared, Gohan was gone. Borgos frowned right away; he knew he hadn't won yet. As did I, I glanced up to see that Gohan was fine and his eyes were now blue.

"Hey, wasn't that Kakarot's instant transmission move? Looks like his son has learned it as well!" Tora noticed.

"Yeah, he figured it out with his Psi energy," I commented, watching Borgos fly up at Gohan. The anger coming off Borgos was just about overwhelming, and he attacked in a similar way. He punched and kicked with aggressive strength and speed I hadn't seen since we fought Buu, it was all Gohan could do to block or dodge. Borgos shot another point blank ki blast for Gohan's head. He barely dodged aside, taking the scouter right off his ear. He grabbed at his singed head by reaction. Borgos took the opening and pounded Gohan's stomach with a nasty punch combination. When Gohan tried to counter he got kicked in the head and smashed all the way back to the ground.

"Pitiful!" Borgos shouted down at him before firing a volley of ki blasts. His voice sounded like a fusion voice with a scratchy counterpart, and was down right frightening to hear. I wasn't sure how many ki blasts hit and how many didn't, but Gohan was getting eaten up at this rate despite his new abilities. Borgos let him get back up, and watched as he managed to get to his feet, gasping for breath.

"Damn this isn't good," Gohan muttered. He drew his arms back and started charging a big one.

"Ka, me, ha…" he started.

"Weakling! Nothing you can do can defeat me!" Borgos declared, charging a ki beam behind him as well. The clash was on.

The huge beams collided in the sky; the energy being put out from it was great enough to push me away and into the air. I managed to hold my position, barely. Gohan's blue beam and Borgos' gold beam easily shredded anything that was nearby. That included the Protoss, who were stumbling about, trying to get away. I felt out Gohan's power, seeing it was still high, but draining. Borgos remained much higher, and soon his gold beam increased in size and began to push Gohan down.

"C'mon Gohan, you've got to do it!" I shouted. He was trying his hardest, but he was fighting a losing battle and he knew it, as did I. He pushed his most of his power into the beam, only to see it fade when Borgos did the same. The gold beam slammed into Gohan before exploding.

"Shit, what are we gonna do now?" Tora asked.

"Anything we can!" I said back as the light faded. Gohan was on the ground and out; his ki power had all gone into his Kamehameha to no avail. Tora flew at Borgos first, but tried to talk it out with him.

"Borgos, what are you doing? Don't you recognize us?" he shouted at him. Borgos revealed a smirk only Vegeta should have been able to pull off, and pure evil was radiating off him.

"I'm doing what needs to be done, Tora!"

Tora was a bit taken aback by that, "What the hell did they do to you?"

"Made me stronger than any other Saiyan in the universe! You should come with me, the feeling is invigorating!" Borgos claimed.

Tora looked like he had enough, "Last chance Borgos, don't make me destroy you!"

Borgos laughed like a maniac, "You destroy me? Muhahahaha, you always were the joker Tora, and that is the biggest joke of them all! No one can defeat me!" I growled slightly, but Tora attacked head on. Borgos dodged aside just as Tora flew in with a kick, counter-punching Tora's head so hard I thought it would come off. That got Tora's attention, but not long enough before Borgos had already landed a few dozen hard blows on him. A powerful ki blast was fired half a second later and Tora fell from the sky, reverting back to normal when he landed. _Shit. _

"Now then boy, come with me! Or receive the same fate as our friend here, the Overmind wants you to join him!" Borgos called down, directed at me.

"Not a chance!" I shouted back, making sure I was at full power.

"Oh it is a great chance! You either come willingly, or I will beat you to an inch of your pathetic life, and then take you to him. Surely your senses are telling you that you have no chance at all. Tora was much stronger than you and now look at him! The same applies to Gohan, give up now brat!" _Damn he's right, I can't fight him in my current state, and I doubt he's going to give me the time I need to find my Super Mystic form. I need to think of something!_ _At least I won't have to worry about him killing me if they want me alive._

Borgos laughed, "Such delay, it pains me to believe that you might actually have a few ideas! Better decide quickly boy, I'm sure the Overmind would much rather you come in a healthier form rather than shredded! He can access your full powers easier that way!" _That's it, that's why Gohan didn't beat him, he only uses Psi for Instant Transmission!_

"How about we take a spin with those right now!" I grinned and using my ki, activated my sleeping Psi energy.

"Wow, your eyes turn colors now! Any more overrated tricks or can we get down to business?" he asked mockingly. _Well, no time like the present to try using this in a real battle!_ I held out my hand and grasped my Psi into my fist, creating a small Psi blast. Borgos must not have been able to sense it, or didn't care, because he didn't react. I fired the blue energy ball at him and watched as he prepared to catch it. Judging by his ki signal, I guessed he was going to try and send it back. I grinned when he suddenly lost his index finger and his thumb. They disintegrated in the blast when he pulled back suddenly as it sailed into the sky and vanished. He seemed to shake off the pain, but growled furiously. The energy I used wasn't that strong, so I could only guess it was because it was so potent to begin with.

"How did you do that you little brat?!" he shouted in anger.

"My Psi power is much stronger than it looks bucko! You want some more?" That answer came quickly as he rushed down in a frightening blaze of Super Saiyan speed. _Damn, I may not be able to pull that trick out of my hat much more!_ I dodged to the side only to receive a painful kick from the right as he was already there. I flew backwards, focusing on Borgos' energy until I lost it again. A punch that must have busted most of my teeth reminded me where his ki was, and then a kick to the lower chest sent me to the ground and gasping for the air that I had lost. I felt blood come into my mouth, spitting it out along with a tooth that came loose.

Borgos landed with a cocky grin on his face, "When will you learn boy? You won't beat me even with your little tricks. Besides, I think my new fingers would like to take a test drive!" he held up the hand I had hit. To my great surprise, and horror, the fingers had already grown back, they were covered in a sticky looking green substance.

"Yes, Zerg qualities are quite interesting! Not only did they upgrade my power but they gave me the power to regenerate myself at any given time!" _Shit, I forgot they could do that, but that fast?!_

"Since when can Zerg cells regenerate that fast?" I asked, buying a little talking time while I caught by breath.

"Not sure myself brat, but it may have to do with the fact that it has much energy to draw from and therefore work faster. And here you're considered to be one of the smarter ones of the group!" Borgos laughed again. I stood up with a deep scowl on my face, facing him only ten feet away.

"Ready to give up yet?" he asked.

"You should know I never surrender without a fight!"

Borgos chuckled, "Yes I do know that, however this isn't much of a fight. No matter how hard you try, you just can't do it!"

"Well, I'm not convinced yet!" I screamed at him, drawing up my power into both hands. He smirked and stood ready to receive whatever I was going to give him. _Well if one worked so well.._ I fired a Psi blast volley straight at him, at least a dozen of them. My Psi blasts severed his arms and legs, the rest he took in the chest. Those cut right through and caused an odd blood mixture to spew out, some red and some green. He plummeted to the ground with a groan, and I felt his ki drop. A minute passed before I did anything else. _That seems wrong. Gohan and I hit each other with low-level Psi blasts and they didn't come close to this kind of damage. What is going on here? Wait a sec, he just regenerated his fingers pretty easily. Ah crap!_

I pulled back, jumping into the air and calling upon my ki as I raised my hands, "MASENKO-HA!" I shouted, dropping the gold beam right on his remains. I stayed up in the sky as the smoke cleared, showing that Borgos was now a shredded mess of matter, his ki signal was nearly gone as well. _So my ki is tearing him up too, there must be something else wrong with him. I know it isn't me, and Borgos would not have been torn up from a blast like that if he were normal. Maybe it has something to do with the infestation process. He can heal as fast as Buu and he might be strong, but his body is weak. Ugh, there's incentive not to get captured by those freaks!_

"Humph, serves you right for hurting my friends!" I grunted, dropping out of the sky and over to Tora, who was struggling to stay awake.

"Hey kid, you got any, hack Senzu beans?" Tora coughed.

"No, stay still. I can use my energy to heal like Dende can!" I explained, covering him in a green light. Since he was mostly injured, I had to use the mixed energy. Once I felt his ki return to normal, I retracted my power back to me and took a deep breath.

"Not bad kid. I think you missed my butt though, OW!" Tora said, grasping his backside. I laughed slightly as Fenix and a few Protoss warriors came up to us.

"Did you get that monstrosity?" Fenix asked.

"Looks like he's going nowhere fast!" I smiled.

"Good, we need to make sure it's completely dead. They have a nasty habit of regenerating when there shouldn't be anything left. After that quick recovery from your attack earlier, we need to make sure that thing is taken care of! I will do the honors!" Fenix declared as he and a few of his warriors trotted over to where Borgos lay. I glanced over to see Gohan getting up, barely.

"Need me to heal you Gohan?" I asked.

"Nah, I think I'm okay since he's down now, just low on power. How'd you get him?" he asked.

"Energy blasts cut him apart, literally. Once he was chopped up and I hit him with a Masenko. Fenix is gonna make sure he can't regenerate!" I explained. All of a sudden my ki sense went bonkers and I turned to see what was up. Fenix's warriors were suddenly thrown back as Borgos sprang back up, new limbs were forming and his chest plate of Zerg shell was coming back together!

"Man, no way!" Tora exclaimed. _Great, now what do I need to do?_ Fenix stabbed forward with his Psi blades, but went a bit too slow as Borgos caught both of his arms. Fenix struggled with the Saiyan briefly, to no avail.

"What's wrong little Protoss, not quite as easy as you expected?" Borgos laughed in his face. Fenix kicked forward and managed to escape before rushing at him and slashing with his blades right at his face. Borgos dodged so fast that only his hair was nicked by the blades. Fenix was thrown off balance and came up only to see Borgos' hand in his face.

"One toasted Protoss to go, the world is now a better place!" Borgos laughed as he gathered ki into his hands. He spent too long and Fenix took advantage by stabbing him right in the gut with his right-handed blade. Borgos groaned and fell backward, but quickly recovered and phased out. He reappeared behind Fenix and smashed him into the ground.

"Goodbye!" Borgos shouted and blasted a strong ki blast. Fenix was enveloped and torn to shreds.

"No!" another Protoss warrior shouted. Fenix's body flew out from the explosion, smoking and missing a few limbs. There was no signal of life coming off him at all, he was dead.

I growled in anger, "You monster!"

"Hahaha, you can't actually respect that piece of trash can you? He is no warrior like you or myself! Just another alien thinking he's got it all, and he couldn't even use his own powers, pathetic!" Borgos stated.

"He was more respected than you will ever understand, now I'm going to take you down!" I declared. Tora and Gohan got ready to fight as well behind me.

"No guys, I'm taking him down!" I said with a deathly glare.

"But Verto, he's stronger than you!" Gohan warned.

"But not smart at all, I can take him!" I said, lifting into the air and up towards where Borgos was still laughing at what he did. I scanned his energy and noticed that it had dropped a bit from before, enough to where Gohan might have taken him down at full power. _Maybe I can wear him out quickly. _

"So you want some more huh boy? Didn't learn your lesson the first time?" he taunted.

"Yeah, I'm a slow learner! I'm not the only one around here apparently!" I said as I concentrated my Psi back into my fist, but this time spread it out. My Psi sword appeared at my command, spreading out to about three feet long as I grasped the end of it in my hand. I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do with it as well. I felt it would cut through about anything and someone who couldn't stand up to small blasts became its target. Borgos looked mildly interested in the blue sword, but not much. _Better catch him off guard before he figures this thing out!_ I held up my other hand to my head with two fingers extended and concentrated a small amount of my ki into them.

Borgos grinned slightly, "It doesn't matter what you do!" _Try this one on for size then!_

"Special Beam Cannon!" I shouted, firing the spiraled beam at him. His smile widened, as he no doubt sensed that it wouldn't be anything he couldn't handle. As he prepared to deflect it, I phased out and blasted into the skies above him.

"Foolish boy, your attacks won't work on ME!" he screamed at the end because as he deflected the beam cannon with a blast in his own hand. I phased out and came at him with a downward slash of my Psi sword while descending from above. I struck the top of his head and cut all the way through to his feet. Borgos' priceless stare of shock split in half as well as the rest of his body. I slashed across him several times, turning the infested Saiyan into floating chunks in the air. I could see that the Zerg implants were already trying to regenerate him, and rather than have that happen, I dropped backwards in the sky and put my sword away. Then I brought my hands up to position and decided to try something new. _Let's see what a full power blast does!_ I pulled ki from one hand and Psi from the other, pulling a lot from either side of the coin, but making sure it was balanced with the same amount of power on both sides. I charged a ton of energy into the blast, so keeping it half and half was a little tricky, but nonetheless I was going to let this creep have it.

"Try to come back from this, FINAL FLASH!" I shouted, firing the beam right at the remains. The power that came from it sure wasn't what I expected. It probably could have killed Kid Buu instantly, and as one would think, I had some trouble holding it on target. The beam came out green as it streaked toward Borgos. The beam hit and I watched the infested remains of Borgos disintegrate into nothing. I guided the beam into the sky before discontinuing it. The instant I stopped, my power felt so drained that I thought I actually had been fighting Buu. I dropped down to the ground and sat so I could catch my breath.

"Wow kid, that was sweet!" Tora came running up along with Gohan and a few Protoss warriors. I nodded as I looked back up into the sky, not seeing even a trace of the infested Borgos left.

"Well done young warrior!" another Zealot said.

Gohan looked a bit amused, "Wow, combining a blast like that sure did have an impact. Good thing you had control of it!"

"I barely did," I admitted as the Protoss went over to where Fenix lie dead.

"We must take Praetor Fenix back to the base and send his remains through our warp gate back to Auir!" one of them claimed. I nodded, knowing they probably had some strange rituals regarding death, I had seen a few of them send dead Zealots back through when we fought the Zerg in their base. I was completely wasted and almost out of power, but still had plenty to make the journey back.

"Let's get going, it's a long walk since we need to stick with the ground troops," Gohan suggested, giving me a hand up to my feet. I dropped out of my Psi mode, noticing that when I did I nearly collapsed.

"Note to self, don't use any more Psi for today. Feels like I've been under one of Vegeta's five hundred times gravity sessions!" I said as I caught my breath.

"I heard that!" Gohan grinned and walked next to me. I sensed Tora not moving at first.

"What's wrong Tora?" I called back.

"Guys, where is Broly?"

**Power levels**

**Tora (SS2): 415,000,000**

**Gohan: 565,000,000**

**Verto: 250,000,000**

**Infested Borgos (SS2): 610,000,000; Weakened: 550,000,000**

**Verto's Chi powered Final Flash (ki and Psi combined): 500,000,000**

**Preview of next chapter: The Z Fighters and Protoss gather for a victory feast. Little does anyone know that their new alliance is in jeopardy. The Overmind goes into a weakened state of disarray, and what happened to Broly? Next time on DBV!**


	21. The End of the Zerg?

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 20: The End of the Zerg?**

We watched as Fenix's fellow Protoss warriors loaded him into some sort of long pod. Then they carried the large pod up to a portal of some kind and pushed him through. Most of the Protoss troops left from the battles arrived for the sending of Fenix. Tassadar was one of the first ones to ask what happened, I guess he had been a friend of Fenix for a long time. Aldaris showed his ugly face as well, but he didn't seem to be frowning at the event, from what I could tell anyway. He left quickly after a small Templar approached him and told him he had an urgent transmission from the Conclave, whoever they were.

"He was the greatest warrior to enter the fields of battle in a long time, and he will be remembered as such!" Tassadar announced as the pod went through the gate.

"I wonder how he can get back to his home planet if they couldn't set up such a warp link to call in backup troops," I muttered aloud, not meaning for anyone to hear it.

"The dead go through easier despite the distance, and the pod was actually sent to a ship in orbit. They will send it through a different warp gate. This was strictly for tradition," a rough-sounding Zealot said from just behind me. I'd say it looked like he was frowning, but it was hard to tell.

"Sorry, I didn't realize anyone was listening. I wish I could have been quicker and saved him," I said, allowing me head to lower a bit.

"Nonsense, a warrior who dies in battle is an honored one! The one who avenges his death is even more honored. I promise you, his warrior spirit will be passed onto everyone, even yourself!" the Zealot said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, but weren't you at the battle?" I asked.

"Correct young Saiyan, my name is Krator!" he said.

"Pleased to meet you," I said, extending my hand.

"No the honor is mine, but enough of that for now. I believe your other comrades wish to see you once the crowd clears a bit, cherish this time in victory!" Krator suggested, shaking my hand.

"I will, thanks," I said, walking slowly through the crowd to where Gohan and Tora were. We remained silent as a few other speakers came on, other than the comment by Gohan that they did funerals very quickly. Once the ceremony was over, Vegeta came over to Gohan, Tora and I.

"So where the hell is Broly? He was with your group!" he barked.

"We don't know, during the battle I lost sight of him! And I think they were knocked out at the time," I explained.

"Damnit! Didn't you try to search him out with your senses?" he growled.

"We tried sir, but he must be hiding it because we can't pick it up!" Tora explained though Vegeta directed the question at me.

Vegeta nearly blew up, "Blast it, where did that damned deranged Saiyan go?"

"Prince Vegeta, we've located a ki signature over towards the primary Zerg cluster! Over where we believe the Overmind is entrenched!" a Templar rushed up to inform him. Vegeta scowled and looked in that direction. I scanned with my senses as well, though I noted that the Templar chose to address him as Prince. With all the Zerg signals over there, it was difficult to detect, but after a moment I did discover Broly's rather high power centered among them. When I focused there, I noticed that the central signature was emitting a lot of ki and a lot of Psi, much like Gohan and I were now. _The Overmind is like us? Bah, nevermind, I'll figure that out later. Right now what is Broly up to?_

"What the hell is he going to do?" Vegeta asked.

"I can bring up the visual from our space observers!" the Templar suggested.

"Do it!" he barked.

Interlude 20.1 –Sacrifice-

Broly powered up as he approached the massive creature that had embedded into the Earth's ground.

"Foul creatures!" he cursed. The massive Overmind reminded him of a huge octopus like creature he had battled one time, except the Overmind was bigger. It filled up about a mile of space in diameter, not including the large tentacles that resembled skinny hills. It didn't move when he arrived, but the Zerg sent a lot of flyers towards him, so it knew he was here. Broly powered all the way up to his ultra Super Saiyan form, bulking up as he did. The Zerg rushed at him as soon as he finished. Despite slightly decreased speed, he was still able to crush any flyer that felt lucky. He either smashed them to the ground, or blasted hundreds of them with one swipe like he had done over and over again. When the Zerg flyers didn't attack anymore, he turned his attention to the Overmind itself. Charging a huge green blast over his head, he prepared to do away with the foul beast once and for all.

"Just what do you plan on doing with that, Saiyan?" The Overmind spoke in its booming voice, hurting Broly's ears a bit.

"I'm putting an end to your reign!" Broly declared.

"Oh but the fun is just beginning! I can sense the power of you Broly! I can also sense that you feel neglected, that the one known as Vegeta and his friends have forgotten about whom you really are! You are the legendary Super Saiyan, the Saiyan with no equal in power, and they treat you as a common soldier!" The Overmind dug at the soft spot it detected from Broly's mind. Broly lightened up on his blast for a moment before continuing to charge ki into it.

"You're wrong, I am cleansed of that old obsession to be the strongest! I already am the most powerful, and right now I will prove it!" he shouted down at the huge beast.

"Oh no, you are not. The two mystical Saiyans still possess hidden powers that will dwarf you in comparison, your power is nothing compared to theirs!" The Overmind countered.

Broly grunted slightly, "That may be so, but that doesn't matter to me anymore! The only thing that matters is destroying your pathetic race!" The Overmind quickly glanced through its options before speaking again.

"That you cannot do Saiyan, no matter how much power you possess. It is fruitless to try! You think the Protoss are here to help your kind and get rid of us? You are terribly mistaken, even now the Protoss plan to exterminate everyone on this planet once we are dealt with! They never truly meant to help you, only use you! They will not hesitate to destroy your friends and allies once we leave!" The Overmind explained, though twisting the truth to an extreme. Broly stopped charging his ki in slight surprise.

"You lie, wretched creature!"

The Overmind's center seemed to flinch slightly, but it merely sounded like a large grunting motion, "Do I? Then watch and see for yourself! Your powers are superior to theirs, but they have strength in numbers. They are afraid of you and will undoubtedly destroy the planet from space if necessary to get rid of you!" Broly was now torn on what to do as he held his maximum powered energy blast.

"What can I do then? If you're so smart on the subject!"

"There is only one thing you can do, you must convince your friends to combine their efforts with our own. Become one with the Zerg and your powers will increase by a factor you can't even imagine, and you will never have the fear of dying!" The Overmind offered.

Broly looked disgusted, "And let you do to me what you did to Borgos, I think not. It doesn't matter how much power that may or may not give me, making one's body so weak that he can't even take one simple blast is all the reason your existence must end! Prepare to lie dead at my feet!" Broly shouted, firing his huge bomb at the Overmind. It struck without resistance, and the explosion lit up all around as the light expanded over half of the planet. When it cleared, Broly stood unmoving in the air, watching where the creature had been. Instead there was a large crater with dead Zerg tissues all over the place.

"Take that freak!" Broly said as he saw more Zerg approach him and he got ready to fight them.

"What's wrong, did I destroy your pathetic master? You will meet him again soon!" he challenged as the Zerg flyers hissed at him. A loud groan sounded beneath him and he gasped in horror to see that the massive creature was digging itself out, and regenerating!

"What the?!" he said in shock. He fired ki blast after ki blast at the monster. Using just as much power as before, he fired another bomb at the creature, getting a similar explosion for a result.

"Come back from that one you beast!" he taunted. The smoke and dust cleared to reveal the Overmind was doing just that, the large tentacles that had drooped down suddenly started to move on the ground. Broly spit at it as he caught his breath, he was running low on power already. The Zerg swarmed in behind him and attacked, pounding the Saiyan before he had a chance to defend himself. He fought off the attack flyers just as the kamikazes flew at him, striking and melting off his armor with an acid shower. He powered up as much more as he could, but took more hits from the flyers that stayed relentless.

"You see Saiyan, its no use!" the Overmind told him, now nearly regenerated.

"No!" Broly shouted as he fended off a few flyers before more kamikazes plowed him from behind. The huge Saiyan took a last breath and summoned the rest of his power, creating an energy shield that deflected any attacks from the Zerg.

"I will take you down myself, even at the cost of my own life!" Broly announced as he flew closer to the wretched Overmind.

"No you can't!" the Overmind claimed.

"I understand now, you say that Gohan and Verto are the strongest, yet I am the one you are afraid of! You tried to destroy me in space and failed, now it is time for you to pay!" Broly shouted back as his power reached dangerous levels. Then his body exploded from all of the ki he was calling forth, leaving a huge bright light that spanned at least a few miles wide. The shock of the blast could be felt all the way back to West City, where Bulma was tracking Broly's signal.

"No Broly! Don't do it!" she called into the scouter. To no avail, he was already gone.

-

"Broly, NO!" Goku shouted at the view screen the Protoss had provided. For some reason only the video came in, the nearest Templar said the audio was being blocked out somehow. But the visual was all we needed to guess at what took place. Our senses did the rest as the light from Broly's sacrificial explosion faded. The Overmind lay in shredded pieces over the ground, barely together at all. The Zerg around it seemed to be running about on their own, fighting each other.

"I think he may have done it!" Tassadar announced. That didn't ease the passing much, but it was good news.

"It seems that his sacrifice may have given us the edge we needed. That cursed Overmind can still probably regenerate, but it will take a very long time for it to do so with that kind of superficial damage! Rejoice my friends, this is the first step of many to finally defeat the Zerg!" Tassadar explained as the Protoss soldiers started cheering a bit.

"Then tomorrow we will strike the rest of the Zerg, and kill the rest of them off before they have a chance to rebuild!" Vegeta ordered.

"Agreed! Meanwhile, I think a big celebration is in order," Tassadar suggested. As he and the other Protoss began to run about to get things set up, we waited for the rest of the team to arrive, to explain everything that had happened. The others and myself didn't really agree about the celebration since Broly has just killed himself like that in front of our eyes, but the promise of food would make us stick around. I didn't really speak to anyone for about ten minutes until I overheard Tora explaining my battle with the infested Borgos.

"They did that to Borgos?" Shugesh growled in anger after getting an explanation.

"Afraid so, he looked to be completely under their control! And he was much more powerful than before!" Tora explained.

"How in the blue hell did you defeat him then?" Vegeta asked. We then explained what I did to Borgos, catching a look of pride from the prince.

"And you thought that small amount of training in the time chamber was useless eh Vegeta?" Goku asked, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"Get off me Kakarot!" Vegeta barked back.

"It was a lucky break, the boys have not mastered their powers that well. Luckily, he gambled just right about his abilities and saw that the infested Saiyan was physically weak, otherwise he could have killed us all," Piccolo frowned as he glanced towards me. _So much for a job well done._ I generally ignored that comment from Piccolo, though he did have a point. I didn't truly know what would happen if I mixed energies even in a controlled state like that. Truth was that I did not expect the kind of power that I released considering my current power level; it was definitely something to check into later. In a way, it did make sense due to the fact that my ki and Psi were nearly equal.

"But for the effort, good work kid," the Namek acknowledged before looking around for a place to meditate. I noticed the Protoss setting up a huge dinner setting for all of the troops, and to my delight, they were loading it with a lot of food. I licked my lips slightly. Apparently Goku was thinking the same thing, but he was rapidly stepping that way before a few small Templar tried to push him back and tell him it wasn't ready yet. I chuckled slightly at the Saiyan airhead just as Vegeta frowned in slight disgust.

"Blast you Kakarot, can't you ever get your mind off of food?" he shouted at him as Bardock managed to grab his son and drag him back over to us. Just then I sensed a few high powers flying towards us, two of them felt human.

"Krillin, Tien, hey!" Goku called out as his friends landed. Buu and Seventeen came back a few minutes later, as well as the rest of the Protoss troops on the ground.

"How'd the battle go?" Tien asked. After hearing what we encountered, Tien and Krillin were only slightly concerned about Broly.

"Are you sure they didn't capture him like Borgos? After all he was definitely dead!" Krillin asked.

"If they can bring him back from a death like that, I will be very surprised!" Tora said in all seriousness.

"Attention everyone, dinner is served!" Tassadar's voice came over some sort of intercom system. I trudged towards the tables almost on autopilot, but I still felt sick to myself about Broly. As I glanced around at the celebration about to take place, something told me that all was not well. I wasn't really sure where it came from. Being tired and as hungry as I was, I figured I was just losing it. Boy was I wrong.


	22. Aldaris takes Over

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 21: Aldaris takes over**

We all sat around one of the big dinner tables that had been set up, but we remained with each other. Protoss lined all of the other ones, only Zealots and Templar sitting at the tables, as the dragoons and probes didn't need to eat apparently. Tassadar and Aldaris sat on what appeared to be a big stage setting with a few other higher members of their group. The meal was great, whatever these Protoss ate regularly, I wanted more of it for my next meal. It seemed to be mostly meat that they ate, which was fine with me. Goku of course didn't want to wait until the next meal, and paraded around other tables to nab what he could as soon as we ran out. After Bardock and Gohan chased him down, he behaved for the time being. The aliens didn't seem to mind that much, they didn't eat nearly as much of it anyway. Tassadar rose to the podium to make some sort of speech, but Aldaris stopped him short, saying he had some sort of great announcement to make. _Humph, knowing him its just some cocky remark about us._

"Fellow Protoss, honorable Saiyan guests, today marks a new day in history!" Aldaris began. Massive cheering followed, though hardly anything more than a clap came from us. Aldaris waited for the cheering to stop before continuing.

"Today is the turn of the tide, when our enemies will revealed and crushed beneath our feet!" More cheering followed.

"A great many things have been done today. Even with the unfortunate passing of Praetor Fenix, his spirit will make the awaited journey to Adun and rejoin the Kalah!" Even more cheering, Tassadar clapped a bit this time.

"The Zerg are on the verge of final defeat, victory comes soon!" I wasn't sure what the point of all this was too be yet,_ must be like a pep rally or something._

"But first a few things must be done before they are a concern!" _Huh?_ Most of the Protoss had no clue what he meant by that, but paid attention regardless, Tassadar wasn't sure what to make of it either.

"Over the past few days I have noticed something, different, about our great Executor Tassadar. Something I've never seen from a loyal servant of Auir!" This drew strange looks from everyone. Vegeta's eyes went narrow, obviously he felt something was up as well.

"After the alliance was made with our, friends, I saw a different gleam in the Executor's eye, one of extreme arrogance!" _What the hell is he talking about? _

"After our first battle as allies, I noticed that he seemed to ignore obvious Zerg movements and push ahead anyway," Aldaris said. Behind Aldaris a large video like screen arose and blipped to life.

"This will show you exactly what happened because of this!" The screen blipped on, showing a meeting between Vegeta and Tassadar. It skipped to a different scene of the battle inside the Protoss base, but only focused on Protoss accidentally being skewered by ki blasts during our first allied battle against the Zerg.

My eyes now narrowed, "Okay what the hell is he trying to do?" I asked aloud this time.

"An accident you say? Despite his seemingly good intentions, Tassadar has simply used all of you as his puppets in order to catch good favor from his true master: the Overmind!"

Tassadar was on his feet now, "What is the meaning of this Judicator?" _Good question._ Another video feed popped up on the screen, one I recognized pretty well since I had been there. It showed us marching with the Protoss before suddenly jumping into the air in the area we had discovered the buried Zerg attackers. Only once it showed the all of the Protoss get killed, it blipped forward to where I shouted at the Zerg to come out and they did. Not once did it show Tora and I trying to kill the Zerg.

"Hey wait a sec, that's not what happened!" Tora shouted out. Many of the aliens started murmuring amongst themselves, and many angry glances came our way.

"But the last straw was when Tassadar betrayed his closest ally and friend, Praetor Fenix himself! Not only did he betray him, he sent one of his greatest assassins from right under our armor! After all, who would ever suspect a child?" The view changed to the Infested Borgos fight, only it showed me firing a Masenko. Then it blipped to where Fenix was killed by a similar golden blast, as if to show I had killed him. Most of the Protoss troops were glaring at us now, making me feel quite unwelcome.

"I didn't do it, can't you see that he's trying to fool you?!" I shouted at them.

"This boy is innocent," I heard from the Zealot known as Krator. His declaration fell on deaf ears.

"And now to you Tassadar! On orders from the Conclave high council, I hereby declare your Executor position as void! You are a traitor to our people and will be taken back to Auir to stand trial for your crimes against our people! Your friends will be dealt with accordingly!" _Oh great!_

"Looks like we've outstayed our welcome, let's get out of here!" Bardock suggested. I nodded, and all of our auras appeared as we prepped for flight. Aldaris grinned and hit a button he had on his arm band. When he did that, it was like all of my ki was instantly gone from my body. I tried to summon it, but found nothing, as if it didn't exist anymore. I glanced around to see that everyone else was having similar trouble.

"Sorry Saiyans, you're not going anywhere! Arrest them!" Aldaris shouted from the stage.

-

"Our powers have left us?" Goku asked as he looked slightly confused. Not three seconds after Aldaris issued the order did the Protoss come after us in anger. Without any ki to use, we had no choice but to run on foot. Problem with that, the aliens were everywhere.

"They haven't left us Goku, there is some sort of dampening field in here! And it is blocking access to your power!" Seventeen said as he glanced around. We ran around and around, looking for a place to go with only aliens baring Psi weapons around.

"Blast it all to hell!" Vegeta cursed, "Robot, do you know where the field generator is? If we can take that out these freaks will go down fast!"

"No, my scanners can't identify all this equipment!" Seventeen claimed. Zealots appeared in front of us just as another group came in from the sides and behind. We were surrounded.

"Great now what!" Gohan asked. We all backed into each other and fell into respective fighting stances, even Buu though he couldn't use any of his powers either.

"Who's first?" Vegeta dared an alien to come forth. Many were hesitant for good reason, but without his ki, Vegeta would not be quite as threatening. One Zealot finally rushed at him only to receive a punch that bounced off its shield. The alien punched back in retaliation, and caught a surprised Vegeta across the jaw, grounding him. He was up fast, but there were Psi blades in his face in an instant.

"Do not move, or this one dies!" the zealot warned. _Shit! _Seventeen stepped to the plate and fired a ki blast. _Okay, maybe they're back now!_ I thought as I tried to summon my power, to no avail.

"You fools, I don't have ki!" Seventeen shouted as his blast struck the fighter over Vegeta, knocking the alien back. He leapt into the fray, taking on all the Zealots in front of us. As he dodged and blocked multiple blows, Vegeta got back into a stance, ready to plow someone over.

"Run, I'll hold them off!" Seventeen shouted at us. We attempted to run the other way, only to see a stampede of Protoss come running at us. I tried to attack the one that ran me down, only to have my fist bounce right off its shield. It grabbed my wrist and tugged harshly. I kicked towards its gut and the twisting released me as I ran the other direction. I was immediately surrounded by Protoss bearing Psi blades. I turned back only to see that everyone else was being beat down very quickly and the aliens starting to attach some sort of device to their necks. Goku was trying his best against the small group that attacked him, only to get shocked by some sort of stun baton. The others were getting similar treatment even as they tried to fight out of it.

"No!" I shouted running at the first one I saw, which stood over a knocked out Goku, trying to attach whatever the device was. Seventeen was still fighting off a large horde, so he wasn't available. I was going to have to face the hundreds of warriors by myself, with only my physical strength. I tried again to summon my power, but nothing came, not even a little. I grabbed the alien by his head, and even while the shield was shocking my hands, I drug him off Goku and turned hard on his neck. The bones didn't even hesitate to break, telling me that these Protoss may be vulnerable there. I had seen many Zerg hit them there and have success, shield or not. Shaking off the burns from my hands, I turned to the two trying to hold Vegeta down. I smashed one of them and threw him aside, enabling Vegeta to punch the other so hard that his shield didn't even go off, but his head did.

"That's their shield's weakness! Attack the head and neck!" he shouted to me, since I was the only one still moving, though Buu was making a case for himself. _Oh I get it, their shield isn't as strong there so they can breathe, I think. _I didn't care to further figure out the Protoss since they were all trying to capture us. I jumped on the next one, kicking its head, and then punching the face. He went down but not before turning on his Psi blade. I tried to dodge aside, but still got slashed across the shoulder. Blood spurted out as I cried out in pain.

"Boy! Argh!" Vegeta shouted as he was hit from behind. The warrior charged at me as I held my shoulder. I ducked down to avoid the swipe of his Psi blades, and then I hit him down low where most would not like to be hit. It turned out that Protoss were just as vulnerable there as humans were. Luck paid off and he bent over as I hit a hard uppercut that sent him a good twenty feet away, and his Psi blades came off his hands as he fell. No one was really close to me, so I reached out and picked them up. I slipped one onto my good arm, causing the stampede of Zealots to halt for the time being. It slipped on surprisingly tightly and I felt it clamp onto my body like a leech. _Damn, how do you turn this thing on?_ I asked myself just as the blue blade turned itself on as I held it tighter in my grip.

"Okay, that was strange," I muttered, turning to face anyone who wanted a piece of me. I felt the weapon draw a little off my Psi energy, but it wasn't very much, barely enough to fly on if it were ki. Speaking of which I still couldn't use it, which meant no Psi unless I wanted to deal with a bad strain. I did have a better idea of where to concentrate within myself just as the blade tugged on my energy. Just as I turned, a Zealot rushed up and attacked. He swiped with one blade just as I raised mine to block. The blades crossed each other, which caused his shield to go off just before it penetrated and sliced his head in half. His blade in turn, cut my weapon apart at the seams, slashing my good arm. _Well that worked well!_

"Give it up boy, you're out gunned here!" Aldaris declared as he stepped out from the circle of Protoss.

"Why are you doing this? You know that we never attacked your men!" I shouted as I held my new arm wound painfully close.

"Oh but you did, didn't you see yourself kill Fenix with your bare hands?" he snickered slightly, "I can play the feed again if you like!"

"Ha, I call that bad editing! If all these guys really knew what you are doing, you would be standing where I am!"

"But I'm not, get him!" he ordered as the Zealot circle marched forward. I tried again to summon my ki, getting nothing still. _Damn, well looks like I don't have a choice but to try my Psi energy, just hope my body can handle it with no ki!_ I could still feel it deep within me, so I concentrated hard to find it in the same manner that the Psi blade did. I cringed, as it was getting hard to bring out, and painful.

"Just what are you trying to do boy? Can't you see your powers aren't going to work now?" Aldaris sneered.

I opened my eyes just as he said that, "You'll see!" I searched even harder despite having no ki to work with. That had made it easier to find my deepest powers, without it I was looking for a twig in a darkened cave. The Protoss were about ten feet away on all sides before I finally found it. I then groaned loudly as I brought it out, causing the Zealots to stop for a second just to see what I was up to. I recalled the feeling of the Psi blade when it pulled my energy, helping me locate it a little better. I pulled my Psi to the surface once I found it, and spread it through myself much like a power up. Blue lightning flashed violently around me as my silver aura came to the surface and my body strengthened.

"How is this possible, his powers should be asleep for another minute!" Aldaris shouted in fear. I grinned as I struggled with the energy, as it was very difficult to hold onto without ki.

"One minute huh? I can hold off that long, bring it on!" I shouted at them. _Man this hurts just like the triple Kaioken did, I better be careful since I'm not used to it!_ I fired a Psi blast right in front of me with both hands. The warriors flew apart in many pieces as it exploded, causing nearby alien buildings to crumble. The Zealots quickly backed off in slight fear, and I dropped back to send another big one.

I took aim right for Aldaris, "Kame, hame,.." I started, as Aldaris's face seemed to drain of color and turn white with fear as he backed up. As a Psi blade flashed next to my ear, I spun and caught the Zealot's arm, ripping it clean off as blue blood splattered onto my chest armor. Another Zealot punched at me from behind, catching my injured shoulder. I went down to one knee and a whole pile of Zealots jumped onto me, the pressure making me fall.

"Give it up boy!" one whispered in my ear. Flashes of anger hit me, and I saw everyone getting bashed around by the aliens.

"Never," I growled as my power flared, "NEVER!" I screamed again as I suddenly exploded with ki power. The output of my ki and psi combined sent all of the Protoss within thirty feet to the next world, and any others nearby went flying. I screamed in anger and rage, feeling my full powers come to the surface and into my silvery Super Mystic form, but I struggled to hold it. Just as I thought I had it, something hit the back of my head and I felt numb. It felt like a solid object, but was fierce like a blast. My power cut out and I fell to the ground, instantly surrounded by darkness and downed Protoss.

Interlude 21.1

Aldaris sighed as the Saiyan child Verto had finally blacked out. A Photon cannon had shot him from behind, and luckily put the powerful kid to sleep. Hundreds of injured and dead Protoss lay around him, he had been one of the lucky few that hadn't been near the boy when the ki disruptor shut down and he overloaded his power. The nearest Templar ran to the boy, attaching the ki restricting device around his neck, as he lay injured and unmoving.

"I thought you said that the ki disruptor would keep all of their powers in check?" Aldaris snarled at his scientist, Croton.

"My apologies my lord Judicator! It is possible that there are too many of these fighters around and it became overwhelmed before the time ran out. Unless the boy can access Psi energy as well. Is he one of those fighters?"

Aldaris growled at himself, "Yes, he is one of those, I never knew Psionic energy could be used like that! I must learn how he did it!"

"What about the artificial being there?" Croton asked as a few Zealots dragged Seventeen over to them. He was battered and beaten, but still awake.

"Take the fighters and the boy to the brig! This one however is no use to us, kill him and then download his memory bank!" Aldaris ordered, "Then take a squadron to the Western city and capture the Saiyans there, kill everyone else!"

Seventeen's eyes popped open, "You won't touch my sister!"

"Your sister is there, is she like you as well? Interesting, but nevertheless she will die!" Aldaris grinned wickedly. Seventeen turned his wrists just right and jumped out of the grasp of the Zealots. He launched into the air, flying high and out of the base, heading west.

"Blast it, find him and kill him, right now!" Aldaris ordered as several Templar scurried about with the orders and the Zealots marched out in pursuit.

**-**

Seventeen struggled to fly as fast as he could. Despite everlasting energy, even he had his limits when he pushed his body too hard. His bleeding legs were demanding attention, his head was halfway cracked along the side and his chest was sliced open in many places. He began to hear sounds of something coming his way from all sides, so he quickly scampered under some nearby trees. Just as he was out of sight, several small alien ships came flying through. Seventeen recognized them as Protoss attack fighters. They were small, but very fast and durable. Seventeen didn't budge, though his knees were bleeding so bad that he felt they might snap at any second. The ships circled around his position for a few minutes, but ventured off. Seventeen dropped to the ground, breathing hard. The break didn't last long as several hundred laser shots rang in from overhead, shredding all of the landscape and blowing up a few of the trees he was under. Seventeen shuddered, and prepared to fly off again before his enhanced scanners picked something up. The attackers continued attacking the land, hoping to flush him out. Seventeen looked towards his south, spotting a few dozen flyers coming in. But instead of Protoss, they were Zerg. Seventeen scanned them carefully, identifying them all to be kamikaze flyers.

"Great, what else could go wrong?" he asked himself. The ships turned and fired on the Zerg, hitting a few with their missiles. The Zerg flyers got hit at point blank range, but plowed right into the ships as they died off. The battle waged for barely a minute, coming down to one damaged ship and one Zerg flyer. The flyer dodged several missiles and hit the ship, blowing it up an instant later. Seventeen sighed at his lucky break and tried to stand back up. His knee snapped when he did, exposing not only blood and bone, but sparking wires.

"Damnit!" he said just a bit too loud. He glanced around quickly, not seeing anyone. He turned his head forward in time to see a distortion in the air, similar to that of heat coming off the road or that of a desert mirage. Seventeen never saw such things as an android, so he paid attention better, figuring it was another Protoss ship or something. The distortion moved closer, and reshaped as a pattern of a person. Seventeen got his energy in order, preparing to blast at whatever this was. Before he did however, he heard running sounds behind him. Three Zealots marched up to the last tree, and spotted him right away.

"There he is, let's get him!" one grunted. The distortion to his right then moved swiftly. Before any of the Zealots moved an inch, the barely visible distortion moved through all of them.

"What sort of trick is this?" No one answered until three shields went off suddenly, showing they had been hit. Then all three of the Zealot heads came off of their owners and the bodies crumpled to the ground. Seventeen could hardly believe what he saw, then backed up a bit on the ground when he saw the distortion moving his way. It then stopped a few feet away from him.

"Who, what are you?" he asked the invisible being. The distortion then flinched for a second, before the invisible cloak around it vanished. Seventeen watched as the being slowly revealed itself. It appeared to be some kind of green woman, with thick blades of black hair that stuck out like an afro. She had several sharp talons on her back in an arranged pattern that resembled wings, but weren't. She was wearing what seemed to be a black battle uniform, though it was difficult to tell because it looked organic.

"What the, who the hell are you?" he stuttered.

"I am Kerrigan, I have come to help you," she said.


	23. Prison of Ice

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 22: Prison of Ice**

Seventeen's jaw quivered about in many directions in awe of this green woman Kerrigan.

"What is wrong?" she asked. Seventeen didn't know how to answer, he just stared forward.

Kerrigan rolled her eyes after a moment, "Men, no matter what form I'm in I draw that kind of reaction! That's the problem with organic armor, sometimes it doesn't hide as much as one would think." Seventeen then realized what part of her he was looking at, and shifted his eyes upward towards her face.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" he barely managed to say.

"I'm telepathic, and since most men have the strongest thought waves yet weakness minds, I hear them quite clearly. Besides, it wasn't that hard to figure out," she said with a smile.

"What do you want with me?" Seventeen asked, eyeing her sharp talons on her back.

"Why nothing. I came here to help you, or at least try to help you. Unless you want those bloodthirsty Protoss to hunt you down and finish you off?"

Seventeen groaned, "No that's okay." Kerrigan sighed, bending down to examine Seventeen's broken knee as it sparked at her.

"You look to be in bad shape. I can seal this up, but it's going to hurt!"

"Just seal it if you can!" Seventeen shouted in pain as she poked at it. She then bent her head down just a little more and sucked up her breath. To Seventeen's surprise, she spat some sort of pale colored fluid onto his knee. _Disgusting!_ He thought. She seemed to ignore that, and then blew hard across the spit. It gathered all over his knee and flooded the hole, then hardened and stopped the blood flow. Seventeen could hardly believe his eyes as he examined the clot of saliva.

"You won't be able to use it fully for at least another hour, but it should work well enough to walk for now!" she declared, standing to her feet. Seventeen got up slowly, but her seal had indeed worked well enough for him to stand.

"Need me to do the rest?" she asked.

"No I'll be okay for right now, who are you though?" he asked, trying to keep perverted thoughts from his head.

"I told you already, my name is Kerrigan," she frowned slightly.

"No offense, but what are you exactly?"

She scowled now, "Very well, I am the half demon half Terran daughter of Dabura the demon king, as far as I know anyway. I am also an agent of the Zerg!" Seventeen was back into his fighting stance once she said the last word.

"Argh, I see were going to get nowhere fast now that I said that! Can't you see I'm not your enemy at this moment, otherwise why would I heal your leg?"

"To trick me later for one, why should I trust you?" he snapped at her. A few Protoss flyers then passed by above, but didn't stop.

"That is one reason," she pointed upwards.

"How can you help me if you're Zerg?"

"The Overmind doesn't always have me under his control. When he is in a regenerative or hibernation state, he can't control his swarm. His other agents, the Cerebrates, control their broods accordingly, but my Cerebrate does not control me, I control him! Thanks to my mental abilities, I can operate freely as I wish until the Overmind is awake again, though even then he doesn't completely control me. And thanks to your Saiyan friend Broly, he won't be awake for another day. That gives me plenty of time to get away from the Zerg for an extended amount of time, so I decided to come out here and see what I could do to spice things up. Unfortunately, I could not track down the young Saiyan Verto, do you know where he is?"

Seventeen's eyes widened slightly, but narrowed, "The Protoss have turned against us! He and the others were captured, they may be dead by now for all I know!"

"You're kidding right? Tassadar actually turned his back on someone!" Kerrigan almost laughed at the thought.

"No, that wretch Aldaris got everyone to turn on him instead. He claimed that that Verto killed Fenix and the others instead of Borgos, and used edited video evidence to back up his claim. He had some sort of device that suppressed their energy for a short time, but I got away because I am a cyborg," Seventeen explained, glancing around for any activity.

"Oh I see. Yeah, I thought Tassadar had too much pride and honor to do that. Damn that Aldaris, now he's making things a bit more complicated!" Kerrigan grumbled as she hit the ground with one of her talons, leaving some dust in the air.

"Well he's planning to go after the rest of our friends in West City, I've got to warn them!" Seventeen said, lifting into the air. Kerrigan's upper talons caught his leg before he got far, and dragged him back to the ground.

"Wait you fool! There are numerous ships up there just waiting for you to come out of hiding. They are more than capable of killing you in your current state. I can call in more Zerg, but not the number necessary without causing unwanted attention to myself," she warned.

"I don't care about that, I need to warn my sister before they get there!"

"In that case, you're dead before you even get there! Is there any other way for you to contact her?" Kerrigan asked.

Seventeen sighed slightly, "There is one way, but it won't last long to get much of a message off. It's a long-range transmitter that our creator installed if one of us should be in trouble, but he never got it to work before it shorts out and nearly disables us. It will alert Eighteen in whatever state she is in, even asleep, but that's about all it can do. I haven't used it much because it may short out my circuits permanently and deactivate me," he explained.

"Hmmm, is it worth the risk to save your sister and the others if it works?" Kerrigan asked.

Seventeen didn't even hesitate, "Yes."

"Then if you want to save her, you had better transmit!" Kerrigan said as she turned and saw several hundred Protoss ground troops heading they're way, "And hurry!" Seventeen laid flat on the ground and concentrated.

"Eighteen………… Watch out!" he shouted before half of his arm exploded. Seventeen cried out in pain as this happened.

"Is it sent?" Kerrigan asked.

"I hope so, the transmitter just blew!"

"C'mon, I've got to get you out of here! The Protoss are nearly here!" she said, holding out a hand to help him up.

"No leave me here, my power reserves just blew along with the transmitter, save yourself!" Seventeen said.

"No I can't! The Protoss may be able to access your memories since you are robotic, or worse, rebuild you in their image!" Kerrigan shouted.

"Don't worry about me, they won't take me alive!" Seventeen said, powering up a different device within himself. Kerrigan managed to see what this device was since his armor was partially torn, and then took off running in the other direction when she sensed his thoughts.

"Get her!" one of the Zealots shouted. She then flinched for a second, and vanished as her cloak engaged.

"Forget her, there's the cyborg, capture it! Judicator Aldaris wants its files!" a second Zealot ordered. They surrounded Seventeen as he struggled with himself on the ground.

"Give it up robot, your time has expired!" the Zealot said.

"That's what you think you alien freak!" he shouted as his body glowed bright. Kerrigan turned around long enough to see the group of Zealots all vanish within a great ball of light.

"Well, I guess that's the best I can do right now," she sighed and turned back to the east, still invisible.

-

Eighteen woke up sweating in bed. She never had nightmares, but yet she awoke like she had one. She glanced over at her sleeping daughter, who didn't budge as she breathed softly. Eighteen sighed, getting her robe on and walking out of her room. She walked slowly through the hall, trying to make since of what she had just experienced. When she approached the lobby, she was surprised to see Bulma still up, drinking plenty of coffee.

"Can't sleep Eighteen?" she asked.

Eighteen shrugged her shoulders, "Never had a problem before. I must be malfunctioning somehow, but I don't know what it is."

"You're probably just worried about Krillin and Seventeen," Bulma said, sipping more of her drink.

"How'd you know that?" Eighteen asked.

"God knows I'm worried for everyone over there, I can't sleep either. It's a normal human emotion," Bulma said sadly.

"Something strange happened as I woke up, I was sweating!"

"Nightmare?" Bulma asked.

"I don't have those. Dr. Gero didn't install any dream programs," Eighteen explained.

"No dreams? Must be boring!"

"I don't really notice."

"So, what was it about?"

"I heard Seventeen's voice in my thoughts, but only for a second," Eighteen looked quite bewildered.

"Really, what did he say?"

"He said, watch out. I don't understand it though, we can't communicate telepathically. Maybe I actually was dreaming," Eighteen said, turning towards the holographic screen behind her. It was no longer showing much of the world grid Bulma had set up, just locations around West City and to the north where most of the humans had been evacuated.

"What's wrong with your grid Bulma? Weren't those aliens working with you on that?"

"Yeah they were, it went down a little while ago. And I haven't been able to contact anyone on their scouters, but Vegeta said they were holding some sort of dinner celebration over there and he probably shut his off. I actually haven't heard from anyone for several hours," Bulma explained, looking a little confused.

"Could they be in trouble then?" Eighteen asked.

"I would guess no. The leader Tassadar seemed pretty trustworthy, and if Vegeta trusted them then I wouldn't worry. He doesn't like anyone you know. Besides, who in their right mind would mess with a pack of Super Saiyans?" Bulma said, heading down for more coffee. Eighteen nodded, then went back to her respective bed. She wasn't in her bed five minutes before the alarms went off.

-

The pain, the harsh pain. It awoke me from a rather dreadful slumber. I was strapped to some sort of wall by strong metal plates around my wrists and ankles. I tried to move them off of me, to no avail. I noticed there was some sort of golden device around my neck, with a blue light on the front of it. I tried to access my ki, but there wasn't anything to draw from. Judging by the way my body felt, trying to use Psi without ki was a very bad idea at the time. It felt as if I had been run over several times with a steamroller, then sent through the wringer by one of Vegeta's training sessions. I looked around to see I was in some sort of prison with shiny metal all around, despite the overall darkness. There were eight prison cells in this hall, and I appeared to be strapped to a solid wall instead of in a cell. My vision was a little skewed due to some blood that was in my eyes, though I wasn't even sure if it was my own. I managed to turn my head just enough to see Vegeta staring back at me from a cell. He too had a device around his neck, but his arms and legs were free and he was standing next to the bars. There were bright blue bars on the front of the cell, and frankly they looked like they would electrocute anyone who touched them.

"You're awake, boy," he said in a pitiful tone.

"What happened?" I asked, noting how bad my voice sounded.

"We were captured," Tora's voice came from the other side. He too was locked in a cell with the golden device around his neck.

"Is the kid awake?" Bardock asked from across the room.

"They locked the others in a different prison cell then this. From what I can tell, they are still alive," came Gohan's voice from further down.

"Is your ki sense working then Kaka brat?" Vegeta asked despite the scowl from Bardock.

"No, my Psi sense is. I can't access that energy very well without my ki yet, so I'm stuck too!" Gohan retorted. I barely managed to use my own senses to detect the same, I picked up the signatures of Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Buu and a painful one from Goku. I frowned slightly; there were a few missing.

"What about the boy? Could he use his new power to get us out of here?" Vegeta asked, glaring back at me.

"Considering his condition, I don't advise it," Gohan said, though I couldn't see him.

"Where's Seventeen and Shugesh then?" I asked, though my voice cracked badly when I did.

Bardock growled as Vegeta answered, "The robot attempted escape, but they reported that they killed him. Shugesh was taken away with Kakarot and we haven't heard from them since!" The door suddenly opened, and a few Zealots dragged an unconscious Goku in, tossing him into a far side cell and turning on the blue bars. I spotted Aldaris as he came in right behind them.

"You coward!" I shouted as I spat at him. I tried to muscle out of my bonds, but I was in pain everywhere and didn't get much effort out of my body.

"Feisty one aren't you? No matter, you are no threat now!" Aldaris claimed.

"Why have you done this?" Vegeta shouted at him.

"I haven't done anything in particular Saiyans! Except for the fact that I have single handedly have ensured the survival of the Protoss and the destruction of the Zerg! And of course the bothersome Terrans in this sector!" Gohan rushed at the bars, only to get a nasty shock and he fell to the ground.

"Now now, don't go hurting yourself! It will not do any good since no one can save you pitiful creatures now! So enjoy your stay as it will not be long!" Aldaris grinned wickedly.

"Where is Shugesh?" Bardock growled.

"You must mean your fat friend. He wasn't much for providing information to me, so he is no longer able to for the moment. Your other friend there wasn't much help either, even after the fat one was beaten to the edge of his life!"

"You bastard!" Tora shouted.

"You words do such harm, please keep them coming!" Aldaris laughed at Tora, mockingly. Tora rushed the bars, only to receive the harsh punishment for touching them.

"You Saiyans, such a violent race," Aldaris kept his grin going as he turned to face me.

"I'll show you violent you fucking worm!" I growled at him.

"Take him to the Stasis chamber!" The two Zealots released the bars around my arms and legs, just in time since I was tired of them already. I jumped over them and Aldaris and made a run for the door. The device around my neck suddenly squeezed tight and I fell down, trying to pry it off so I could breath. As I struggled I heard Aldaris laughing some more.

"Don't bother attempting escape. That device not only restricts any ki use, but can sever your head from your neck when just enough power is applied. I don't advise trying that again!" he warned.

"Get this thing off of me or I'll rip your heart out!" I shouted as I crumpled to the ground.

"You're in no position to make threats boy. Be good and tell me the secrets of your powers and I might let you live longer!"

"Never!" I shouted back at him. The device squeezed harder, and I choked as it held me firm.

"You might just change your mind, take him to the room now!" Aldaris ordered. The Zealots picked me up by the arms and dragged me towards the hallway as I continued to struggle for breath.

"Aldaris you filthy coward!" Vegeta shouted.

"Do us a favor dear prince Vegeta, and remain quiet on the matter. From what I've seen, your race has no room to talk about filth!"

**-**

They drug me into some sortof round room and dumped me into some sort of cylinder like chamber. I was barely awake for most of the trip, though it had been a long travel around the hallways of the massive temple. The only things keeping me awake at the moment were the pain from my wounds, the lack of air, and my rage.

"Leave us, the child cannot harm me anyway!" I heard Aldaris say. I didn't hear anything for another minute until I opened my eyes to see Aldaris sitting down in front of the chamber in a chair.

"What the hell are you staring at you alien freak?" I whispered.

"Save your breath. I would have killed you long ago if I wasn't so damned interested in your ability!" he admitted.

"What do you want?" I asked when he suddenly released some of the tension on my neck.

"I want to know how your ki power works!"

"Ha, like I would tell you that!" I was choking as soon as I said it.

"I have other methods of acquiring information boy, I never said I would only torture you!" he claimed.

"Do your worst, I'll never tell you anything!" I coughed out.

"I could just squeeze harder!" he grinned.

"You want to know how it works, take this thing off and I'll personally give you a demonstration!" I rasped in anger.

"Pity. I was hoping I wouldn't have to torture your friends too much for the information I desire, but you leave me no choice!"

"What are you going to do?" I asked in sudden fear.

"Your friends in the Western City, they wouldn't happen to know how to use ki or Psi would they?" he sneered.

"You leave them out of this!" I stood up despite barely being able to breathe.

"Ah, they do as well eh? Good, I'll discuss this matter with them instead. I'm afraid you will not be around for that conversation however!" he declared as he pressed a button on the wall when he stood up. The chamber I was in suddenly slammed shut, and an odd green fluid filtered in from above my head and below. It was cold to the touch, even with my tough Saiyan skin I was freezing from head to toe as it spilled in. My breath came a little easier, and so did steam when I exhaled.

"W-what the hell are you gonna do with me?" I shouted at him as I started to shiver.

"I'm going to store you in Stasis and bring you back with me to Auir for study and dissection. Our people can learn much from a being such as yourself. Too bad you won't be able to do the same!" he laughed.

"You better hope I never get out of this Aldaris, you will pay for what you've done. I will see to it that you're paid back ten times for this! Even if you kill me, I'll make you pay! You will pay the ultimate price for screwing with me and my friends!" I shouted at him and pounded my fists against the clear glass like chamber.

"Truly, you are so intimidating!" he laughed.

The green fluid flooded over me and got into my mouth and nose. My body quit responding to my resistance and held itself into place. The cold felt pretty good on my wounds with the numbing, but then again it numbed everything. I choked some more until I saw a few wires come through the fluid and attach themselves to me.

"No, I've failed," I managed to stutter before I blacked out into an icy sleep just as Aldaris walked out the door.

**A/N's: I know that Shenron granted the wish to remove the explosive devices within both of the androids, but guess what, this is A/U! Seventeen still has his, Eighteen does not!**

**It's going to be 3rd person view for a while now obviously. Eventually that will be the standard anyway.**


	24. Gotenks to the Rescue

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 23: Gotenks to the rescue**

"What the hell did you do with Verto?" Gohan practically screamed from his prison cell, grasping the blue bars and getting shocked.

"I put him into Stasis, my people will learn a great deal from his body once I send him back to Auir for study!" Aldaris sneered back.

"You monster!"

"Humph, coming from a Saiyan, that's almost humorous!"

"Judicator! The conquest was a success; we have brought them all back to you. Where would you like them put for now?" a Templar asked from the door.

"Exactly which Terrans did you capture? There were several if I remember correctly," Aldaris said, turning his back from the Saiyans.

"There weren't very many at all Judicator, the one known as Bulma was the only one who gave much resistance. There were a few other Terran females as well. There was also a Namek much like the one called Piccolo. A few other Terran males, one was strong compared to the rest but not much of a threat, the other was an old man. There were no additional signs of any other strong Terrans or Saiyans in their base!"

"Are you sure about that? As I recall there was another Saiyan female there, two small Saiyans and a female cyborg as well. What of them?" Aldaris asked.

"My troops found no evidence of such, only the one male was there to protect the females," the Templar explained. By now Vegeta, Goku and Gohan had all been shocked multiple times by the jail bars.

"Then you really have no clue rather they are there or not do you?" Aldaris smiled slightly before motioning with his left hand. The Templar died from a Zealot slice right away.

"Take the Terrans and the Namek and put them with the others," Aldaris ordered.

"What about the other Saiyans Judicator?" another Templar asked.

"Forget them, they are no threat to us now. Prepare to launch an attack on the remaining Zerg bases, I want the Overmind's eye on my desk tomorrow night!"

"Yes Judicator!" All the other Protoss ran off, leaving Aldaris alone with the Saiyans.

"You won't get away with this!" Bardock snarled.

"I already have, and even if your Saiyan friends come to get you, they will quickly be put down. As for the Zerg, they will also fall to the sons of Auir!" Aldaris said, leaving the chamber.

"So what can we do?" Tora asked.

"I don't know what we can do, they are holding all the cards!" Bardock said, punching the wall.

"Well we have to do something!" Gohan whined slightly.

"We have to hold out and hope the boys and Fasha can somehow break us out, save they aren't captured!" Goku said.

"Wishful thinking Kakarot!" Vegeta grunted and sat on the floor.

"I never count miracles out, Vegeta!"

**-**

Fasha groaned slightly as she pushed the huge metal door open. Bulma had led her, Eighteen, Marron and the two boys down there to hide from the Protoss. She had left to get Chichi and the others, but never came back. Fasha gasped as the door revealed nothing but debris where the great building should have been.

Fasha growled, "Why didn't she let me fight them?"

"Because of that ki dampening field I detected, you and the boys would have had no energy to use or even power up with. As for why she didn't come back, I don't know," Eighteen explained, holding her sleeping daughter. They walked out to see that daylight had broken finally, but Capsule Corp had been annihilated into useless rubble save for the hardened basement hidden beneath. Fasha waved at a few human soldiers were wondering about nearby, beckoning them to come to her.

"You there, what happened here?" Fasha ordered.

"Ma'am, those strange new aliens showed up and wiped out this area. They took Bulma Briefs and a few of the others with them, the rest of the city was mostly untouched. Dr. Briefs has recalled most of the soldiers back to the Capsule Corp headquarters to regroup, he said to bring any survivors there as well!" the soldier explained. Goten and Trunks yawned as they emerged from the shelter, they had been asleep during the entire thing.

"What happened?" Trunks asked, wide eyed now.

"C'mon you two, you're coming with us!" Eighteen ordered, taking flight. Fasha spotted something in the rubble as she rose into the air, and dashed down to see what it was.

"What is it Fasha?" Eighteen asked from the air.

She shook the dust from the small electronic device she held in her hand, "It's Verto's music player." She took it in her hands and followed Eighteen and the boys to the inner part of the city.

-

"Glad to see that my grandson made it out in time. Thanks for looking after him!" Dr. Briefs said. The good doctor hadn't had much good news lately, seeing his grandson Trunks alive and well meant the world to him.

King Furry stood next to him, "Briefs, is there anything we can do now?"

"With the Zerg running around, and the Protoss basically taking over everything, I would say no. If our friends have indeed been captured or killed, there may be no stopping them!"

"Can you find them at least, my ki sense is not picking them up at all?" Fasha asked, Eighteen nodded.

"Afraid not, most of the ki energy tracking equipment was destroyed in the attack at Bulma's site. That could track most ki signatures around the planet as long as they are active. If there was some sort of way to set up a dampening field like Eighteen suggested, then it may not have done us any good anyway. I only know that they are east of here, how far I don't know. I can track all of the Protoss and Zerg movements, but I couldn't tell you where our friends are," Briefs answered, out of ideas.

"Damn!" Eighteen shouted, pounding the table hard enough to split, sending papers flying everywhere. Fasha was noticing how quickly humans scattered when suddenly a thought hit her head.

"_Fasha_."

"What's wrong?" Eighteen asked, barely showing concern.

"I think Verto is trying to contact me, telepathically!" Fasha said, concentrating.

She cringed and held her breath, "Damn, I had him for just a second. They must be doing something terrible to him!"

"Where did it come from?" Eighteen asked.

Fasha turned to where she was sure it came from before pointing, "That way, I'm sure of it. Isn't that the direction of their main base?"

"That seems about right. Good, we go there and bust them out!" Eighteen said.

"Wait just a second! I understand your intentions, but if those aliens could somehow overpower our friends then you will not have any chance. You need to think this over!" Briefs suggested. He walked over to his own holoscreen and typed in commands. Up came all of the Zerg and human areas on the map, as well as several blue question marks, which meant Protoss.

"Now if I recall correctly, their main base should be right here, and these, are troop movements. It looks like they're going to take care of the Zerg, or at least try to. It also looks like most of their forces are fighting the Zerg. You may be able to get in there without notice, but what will you do once you get there? Surely they are not foolish enough to just open the doors for you, and they are swift on movements to and from their bases. You would only have a small window of opportunity to get in, never mind do anything at all!" Briefs explained.

"I thought you said you couldn't find them?" Eighteen asked with a smug remark.

"I said I couldn't find our friends, the other two races are a little easier to detect," Briefs said, drawing a sharp glare from the android.

"What we need is a distraction!" Fasha said, glancing around. She spied Goten and Trunks sitting in the corner with Marron. "Bingo!"

"What is your plan Fasha?" Eighteen asked.

"Think those little cretins will make a decent enough deterrent?" she asked, pointing out the boys.

"If those little devils can drive their own families up the wall, they can certainly hold off a few aliens. At the very least they could lure them away for a little while. But we need to be prepared for any other possibilities that reveal themselves. For all we know they have one of those dampening fields set up round the clock just in case we tried this. We need someone who is used to not relying on ki to get around!" As Eighteen was speaking, Mr. Satan just happened to walk in the door.

"Well, maybe we have a contender for that position!" Eighteen said.

"What, what did I do now?" Satan asked, slightly panicked.

"You want your daughter back don't you?" Eighteen asked in a serious tone.

"Of course I do, what do you need me to do and I'll do it!"

Eighteen grinned, "Just be yourself!" Satan was slightly confused, until Eighteen explained just what she meant.

"You're not serious are you?" Satan asked.

"There's a chance that the boys will not succeed since we don't know the extent of these alien's abilities and technology. We need a backup plan!" Eighteen explained.

"Fine I'll do it, anything to get my little girl back!"

Fasha stepped over to Dr. Briefs and handed him the music player, "Take good care of this please," she said as she and the rest began to organize their plans for rescue.

-

"Prepare to take the child to carrier ship eighty-four and set a course for Auir. We will catch up with you once our business here is complete!" Aldaris ordered his Templar subordinate.

"At once Judicator! We will leave immediately at sunrise!" The Templar started to head off before another came into report.

"Judicator, we have detected a powerful being heading in this direction! It will be here in five minutes!"

"Identify!" Aldaris ordered.

"Unknown, getting a visual now!" The view screen came on to reveal a small boy bearing black hair with purple sideburns racing through the air. He was wearing a small black vest with white pants and a blue sash belt.

"Ah yes, one of the remaining Saiyan children. It seems they want to save their friends while the bulk of our troops are away. Very well, place the child's Stasis cell outside and in the middle of our base. We will use him to set a trap for the remaining warriors!"

"At once Judicator!" the two bowed and raced out of the room.

"Hahaha, I've got you now you little fool!"

"Judicator!" another Templar rushed in.

"What now?" Aldaris asked, frowning at the series of interruptions.

"Our forces have defeated the majority of the Zerg troops around their bases, but we suffered heavy casualties as result. It seems that the other Broods have finally decided to defend their lands and as a result our losses were much greater than expected. What are your orders?"

"Have them pack up and go back into space. As soon as I have the remaining Saiyans, we are going to leave," Aldaris ordered.

"But Judicator, what about the Zerg? We can't just leave them here unchecked!"

"Not to worry. Once we are a safe distance away, I intend to blow up the planet while the Zerg are still on it!"

"Understood!" Aldaris' grin got even wider, if that was possible.

**A/N: For those wondering, the events in this chapter took place over about a day, the Protoss attacked West city in the middle of the night, and Gotenks is arriving at their base the following evening.**


	25. Fasha's anger

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 24: Fasha's anger**

Fasha flew alongside Eighteen towards the Protoss base, watching out for anything ahead of them.

"Keep your energy as concealed as you can Fasha. We don't want them to detect anything other than Gotenks right now!"

"For all we know they can detect your power, never mind mine!" Fasha argued.

"I don't think so. From what I can tell, the moron is still moving up there, so they haven't shot him down. And the ki signal from Gotenks is probably jamming any scanner around, we're still on track here!" Eighteen pointed out as Fasha sensed the same.

"So how long does that fusion stuff last again? The prince and Kakarot did not explain it very well when we were training. We were taught the dance, but never tried it out for real. How long?" Fasha asked.

"Thirty minutes from what I understand, and so far they've only used five. I estimate them to have ten minutes left when we arrive!" Eighteen said.

"That isn't much time to find the others!" Fasha pointed out.

"That's why I wanted the moron to go as well. He's the other distraction as long as he doesn't try to fight them!"

"So he really is a coward, and here I always heard great stories about him!" Fasha looked slightly amused.

Eighteen frowned, "Believe me, they were only stories! But sometimes he can do something useful, let's hope this might be one of those times!" The two continued flying quickly to their destination.

-

"Executor, why would Judicator Aldaris betray us so?" the Zealot named Krator asked. He had been one of the lucky few to survive the battle with the infested Saiyan Borgos, and thus had seen everything that actually happened.

"No doubt for his own ambition. Just like his ancestors, he has always had a greed for power and will do anything to achieve it. The reason he would lock us away is simple, we know the truth!" Tassadar explained.

"What do you suppose he will do with the Saiyans? Surely he will have a difficult time handling them!"

"He has been known to be crafty and clever in his dealings, do not count him out so quickly. Obviously he discovered a way to disrupt their energies much like the Terrans in our galaxy did to disrupt the Zerg. If he is able to keep them all on a leash, then there's no telling what he will plan to do next!"

"Executor, what can we do then?"

"We wait. I have a feeling Aldaris will slip up somewhere along the lines, that is one of his flaws. He will always miss something somewhere, unfortunately we will probably not be around when that happens!"

"Surely the Conclave will hear our case when we get to Auir!" Krator argued.

"That's if we get to Auir. He will probably have us killed and set it up like some sort of freak accident, he isn't that stupid. We must be patient should our opportunity present itself. I still don't believe he can keep these powerful Saiyans tied down, at least not with all of the Zerg out there. Trust me my friend, he will miss something!"

"As you say Executor. But if these Saiyans rely on ki energy to battle, what can they do without it?"

"You do have much to learn about them Krator, they have amazing physical prowess as well. If you didn't have a plasma shield, its likely one blow could kill you if they were to strike at the right spot!"

"Come to think of it, I did hear tell of a few of them snapping our brother's necks like twigs even with the shields on. Though I was being tied down at the time," Krator said, looking thoughtful.

"Precisely, and there is another important factor here: the two mystical Saiyans!"

"You mean the two that can use sacred Psionic energy as well?"

"Yes. Given time, I believe at least one of them could develop his Psi power enough to where they could use it instead of ki. The Judicator would not be able to create a device to disrupt it because it would sacrifice his own powers in the process. One on one against a Saiyan with no powers on either side, I would bet all the Kalah's wealth on the Saiyan!" Tassadar smiled slightly.

"Yes I managed to witness the young Saiyan Verto do just that against our brothers during the struggle. He didn't seem to control it quite well yet, but I could definitely sense the Psi potential there!"

"Very good, no doubt Aldaris noticed this as well. He will likely kill the child, or lock him away in stasis so he is not a threat!"

"Makes sense," Krator commented as the door to their small jail hall opened. In stepped Aldaris, all smiles.

"Judicator, I demand you free us at once!" Krator shouted at him, forgetting his self-control and grabbing the jail bars. After the shock and scream, the Zealot was silent.

"My my, aren't we vengeful today? How about you Tassadar?" Aldaris asked.

"Your luck can't last forever Aldaris, you will slip up somewhere. You've done it in the past, and you will do it again! You and your entire family history are corrupted by foolishness!" Tassadar claimed.

"On the contrary, I've taken every precaution in my efforts on this detestable planet. Nothing will go wrong in my plan!"

"And just what is your plan Aldaris, trying to make Executor for the first time? Or overthrow the Conclave?"

"Ha, those are old dreams Tassadar! Once I learn the secrets of ki energy, I will be the most powerful Protoss to ever live! And I will rule our people just as my ancestors did!"

"They won't let you do that, the Conclave has been in power for a millennium! You think they would just hand the empire back to the old days of dictatorship?" Krator snarled.

"Oh but they will! Nothing shall stand in my way when that happens. I assure you Tassadar, I will rule our galaxy someday! You can't stop me! The Zerg won't stop me, the Terrans there won't stop me, and no one around here will either!" Aldaris frowned at the defiant looks he was getting from his former comrades.

"And who is going to help you do it? Once our brethren realize what you're really up to, they will put a stop to it!" Krator asked.

"They won't even know until it's too late, by then I will be more powerful than you can imagine!"

"If you think Prince Vegeta or his brethren will surrender those secrets willingly, you should just give up now!" Tassadar said, looking quite disgusted with his former assistant, but kept his sitting position.

"Oh you don't understand, these Saiyans have tight bonds with each other. Hurt one and the others will grovel at your feet to stop. We're already examining the Saiyan Shugesh and learning the secrets of his power, and soon the child Verto will receive the same!"

"Careful you don't press the wrong button Judicator, you may set off a devastating explosion!" Tassadar warned.

"You speak nonsense Tassadar, you can sit in that cell until you roll over and die!" Aldaris snarled, leaving the room right away. Once he was gone, Krator gave his superior a strange look.

Tassadar looked slightly amused, "His achilles heel has already been exposed. It is very foolish that he should want to rely on torture for secrets. If he hurts any one of them, the others will erupt in fury. Especially if he harms another's mate!"

"What good will that do if their ki is restricted and they are in our prison cells?" Krator asked.

"It's something that Prince Vegeta explained to me. If a Saiyan is powerful and angry enough, he will breach his own limitations and rise to a new level. I don't see that being effective for most of them right now, but if young Gohan were to get angry enough, I would hate to be in Aldaris' armor!" The two remained silent for a while, until long sonic booms started going off.

"There must be a battle with the Zerg going on outside!" Krator deducted.

"Possibly, but somehow I doubt it!"

-

"All right, I'm here!" Gotenks announced as he landed in the middle of the Protoss base. He was surrounded by a few hundred of the aliens within seconds.

"Hmm, looks like the welcome wagon is here!" he said, grinning. Then, in a bright flash, another two hundred troops warped in. Gotenks still only looked mildly interested. Barely remembering what he was supposed to do, he started posing and declaring himself as the ultimate god of death.

"Naughty aliens need a lesson! I'm here to teach it!" he declared, holding up the victory sign.

"Surrender child!" a Zealot ordered.

"Gotta catch me first!" Gotenks taunted. The zealots started running at him with their small but deadly blades drawn. Gotenks phased out and maneuvered around them all to the other side of the base where most of them had been. They all looked about for a moment or two until realizing where he was.

"Na Na Na, can't catch me if you can't keep up! You guys can't even follow my movements!" Gotenks declared. Aldaris just happened to step into the main window of the temple, catching a glimpse of his soldiers being humiliated.

"Croton, how long until the disruptor can fire?" he asked.

"Less than a minute Judicator!"

"And how long will it last this time?" Aldaris sneered.

"We changed the circuits to a newer model. The field should last about fifteen minutes, another hour to charge!" Croton explained, looking hopeful.

"Very well, prepare it right away, and bring me one of the human females. Should the charge run out, I might need some insurance!"

Back on the ground, Gotenks was making sport of a few Zealots that rushed in only to be kicked around to the point where their armor fell off. Since that was their only form of clothing, they scattered, trying to find some sort of covering, leaving Gotenks in fits of laughter. The rest of the troops snarled a battle cry, running at the fused child all at once.

Gotenks smirked, "Time to be serious I guess, Ka, me, ha, me," he started charging his blast. As he was finishing, his blast suddenly vanished, leaving him slightly puzzled.

"What the, my time isn't up already! What the hell happened to my blast?" he asked.

"Foolish child, our ki disruptor takes away all of your abilities! You can't even fly your way out of this trap!" Aldaris announced over some sort of intercom speaker.

"Damn, I'll just have to beat them the old fashioned way!" Gotenks got into his stance, before running the other way. _Ooops, I almost forgot, Eighteen wanted me to just lead them away so she can get everyone out, I better go outside!_ Gotenks thought as he dodged aside and jumped over slashes and Psi cannon blasts that were now constantly shooting at him. He weaved in and out until he reached the base perimeter, where he turned to the pack of soldiers that were on his tail.

He dropped his pants and smacked his rear at them, "Betcha can't catch me losers!" he shouted, taking off to the left at top running speed. Nearly all of the soldiers followed him out the door on Aldaris' orders. Once all of them had exited, Gotenks led them on a countryside race with him in front.

A certain afro-headed human crept into the base and ducked behind the large buildings, lowering his energy to nearly nothing just like his Namek friend had taught him. At first he could lower his ki, then as he slid against the walls and got into the base, he couldn't even feel his already low power. Eighteen had warned Hercule Satan of this, so it wasn't a complete surprise. If anything it was like a distant memory to what he used to be like before Piccolo and Gohan trained him.

Outside he heard sonic booms going off, Gotenks had gotten his ki power back once he was away from the base and he was busy making the aliens pay for taking it away in the first place. Satan ignored it for the most part and kept his eyes peeled for any activity around him. A few mindless probes ran about, conducting mostly maintenance from what he could tell. He moved past them, staying in the shadows until he came to the main temple.

"This place is huge," he commented; tip toeing inside and ducking through the halls. His mission from Eighteen and Fasha was simple; create a distraction by sabotaging this alien technology. However that was going to be difficult, with the anti-ki field up, no one except Eighteen would be able to use their powers. _I'll just have to hide somewhere until they take it down, she said it didn't last long when they attacked._ He spotted many dark hallways in the temple, and chose one. He kept a good look in front and behind him, ready to attack if necessary.

Back outside, Gotenks was tearing up the Protoss army with his restored ki power. In an amazing move of brains, he took his sweet time disposing of them and kept them all distracted, as he spotted Eighteen and Fasha creeping up on the base. Eighteen's eyes narrowed when they crept inside.

"The ki disruption field is up, I cannot detect the idiot or our friends!" she said.

"Dido, my power isn't working now!" Fasha glanced around to make sure they hadn't been seen.

"Then perhaps he was captured before he could get very far, but Gotenks seems to still be going out there. He's still got time before fusion is over. We should make use of it to search around and see if we can find our friends!" Eighteen noted, looking around herself.

"Hey Eighteen, what's that over there?" Fasha pointed to an object that stood on the far east side of the base. They were on the south end, and thus managed to creep along the walls until they came across the object.

"Looks like some sort of Stasis chamber. Similar to what Seventeen and I used to be stored in before Dr. Gero released us," Eighteen said, glancing at the sickly green color the inside gave off.

"I wonder what's in it?" Fasha said, stepping up to try to look in.

"I cannot tell from here. If there is some sort of computer panel around here, I may be able to find out!" Eighteen said.

"Here's one on the side of it!" Fasha pointed out.

"Good. Keep alert, this may take a minute to hack into their systems!"

"Gotcha!" Fasha nodded, glancing around before taking a closer look at the green tube. She saw nothing but green at first, but slowly a figure shown up. She squinted to see who or what it was.

"There is something in here. Doesn't quite look like a Protoss or a Zerg, looks kind of like a human!" Fasha noted as the figure slowly came into view. Then Fasha locked her eyes on an extra appendage sticking out the side.

"It's a Saiyan, but I can't see the face yet! Can you find out Eighteen?" Fasha asked, her voice dripping with concern.

"Working on it, these files are heavily encrypted!" she said, typing like mad once she figured out the Protoss language codes and buttons. A few more minutes went by; the sounds of Gotenks versus the Protoss were still hot and heavy along with Eighteen's crazy speeds of android hacking and interpretation.

"I've located our friends, they're being held in the main temple over there in some sort of prison chamber in the deepest levels. It will be difficult to navigate through all this, but I can memorize the map though," Eighteen noted before turning her attention back to the Stasis chamber. Fasha's eyes started picking up the facial features of the figure in the chamber a little better, but still struggled to see who it was.

"Let's see, the file says it's a Saiyan alright. But who is it?" Eighteen asked as she continued her work. Fasha still couldn't make out who it was, so she glanced back over the Saiyan's body, picking up on any discrepancies she could detect and that she knew about. The green fluid was not co-operating well, and didn't budge much of an inch to bring the figure closer.

"Damnit, I know a lot of Saiyan bodies and little defects here and there. But this damn fluid is blocking my view so I can't identify him!"

"It doesn't help that it says that this fluid freezes everything inside. Hang on, almost there. This Aldaris character has a lot of file blocks up on this cell!" Eighteen said, sweating slightly as she worked. Fasha looked the Saiyan over again, and then realized something she should have noticed before. This Saiyan was small, much smaller than any of the adults, including her.

"Hmmm, I'd guess this guy is pretty short!" Fasha snorted.

"Correct, it is a small Saiyan in there. Still haven't found the name yet," Eighteen said, though she quickly deducted who it was, somewhat surprised that Fasha hadn't yet.

"Well there's only a few I know that short, Goten, Trunks, and, oh no!" Fasha suddenly shuddered when she realized who this had to be.

"Hang on, almost there," Eighteen said.

"Eighteen, what does it say?" she asked in a low voice. Eighteen heard the sudden change in Fasha's voice, and held her breath, declining to answer right away.

"Damn Protoss," Fasha growled.

"Yes its Verto. He is in that cell!" Eighteen said for her. Fasha started beating the side of the chamber with her fists before Eighteen rushed in and held her back by grabbing her from behind and holding her by the stomach. This wasn't easy even for the android, but as long as Fasha didn't have her ki power and Eighteen did, it could be done.

"No, don't do that! The Stasis chamber is keeping him alive but in a frozen state. Interrupting that state may have dire effects!" Eighteen warned. Fasha managed to cool down with that thought in mind, but she was still furious. Eighteen noticed that the battle sounds outside had stopped, and she detected many aliens coming back their way.

"Shit, the fusion time is up! We need to get to that main building over there before they come back. Can you cool down long enough to do that?" Eighteen asked, still not letting go of Fasha.

"Can't we thaw him out or something?" Fasha practically begged with a slight teary-eyed expression. Eighteen had never seen this emotion out of a pure Saiyan before. She had out of the Son family and occasionally Verto and Trunks, but she disregarded that fact since they were raised differently.

"No, this is a transport cell. They're planning on taking him somewhere!" Eighteen said.

"Where?" Fasha asked right away.

"Back to their home planet I'd guess. I downloaded a lot of information about their whereabouts and how to get to that planet despite it being in another dimension. As long as my head stays intact, I'll have the information. Now let's get going before they get back here! We'll worry about thawing him out once we free our other friends, okay Fasha?" Eighteen asked. Fasha didn't respond, but did stop trying to get out of Eighteen's hold.

"Yeah you're right. Sit tight little guy, we'll be back soon for ya!" Fasha patted the side of the chamber before turning the other way, towards the temple.

Fasha and Eighteen had ran about fifty feet before Eighteen suddenly grabbed her arm and rushed to the outside wall, hiding behind a tower.

"What is it?" Fasha asked quietly.

"The troops are coming back, we shouldn't be seen if we can help it!" Eighteen hissed, watching the gate. In the dwindled Protoss marched, battered and beaten from the battle with Gotenks. Less than half of them remained since the boys were only buying time and trying not to destroy any part of the base. A few of the troops carried the two boys in, knocked out and bearing ki restriction devices around their necks.

"The boys, we can't let them get captured too!" Fasha said.

"Until your powers are working and we can get our friends out, we don't have a choice. I don't think they're going to be harmed anyway, Verto was the only one that seemed to be in really bad condition according to the records, oh damnit," Eighteen about slapped herself when she realized what she just said. Fasha didn't react initially, and deep down Eighteen hoped she hadn't heard. _That kind of reaction might not be the best thing right now_. Suddenly there was a blue blade at both of their faces, and a Protoss warrior stepped out from the tower door.

"Surrender!" The blue blade snapped off as Fasha proceeded to beat the inwards out of the poor alien. Eighteen quickly learned that even without their powers, Saiyan females were not to be taken lightly, especially when angry. On the other hand she had seen the human mates of her Saiyan friends go crazy like this before. _I wonder if this is where Chichi and Bulma get it from? Hmph, Videl will probably develop it too._ The shield lasted a few hits, but they were so direct and hard blows that it ran out of energy needed to block physical damage. The warrior clearly did not anticipate this sort of reaction, and likewise fell to the ground in a heap, barely able to breath. Fasha bashed the warrior so hard in the head with her boot that it came off. The body twitched about before completely quitting. However a loud sound emitted from the warrior as he died, and it alerted the other Protoss that were coming into the base with the boys.

"Oh crap, c'mon Fasha!" Eighteen grabbed her arm and dashed into the middle of the base, heading for the other side. Warriors then appeared all over the place, mostly from the towers and seemingly the barracks as well. Eighteen turned them towards the temple, coming to a screeching halt when she saw warriors coming from there as well.

"Shit, we need to get out of here Fasha!" Eighteen announced. As she took to the air with the Saiyan hanging by an arm, several blue laser-like beams and energy balls flew just ahead of her, causing her to stop.

"Ah ah ah, you're not going anywhere! Kindly land before you get yourself hurt, female!" Aldaris shouted up at her from the ground. Eighteen growled as she and Fasha landed.

"So you two are the last of the Terran forces here? Pretty pitiful for an army, but not without its own qualities I see!" Aldaris sneered at the two women.

"Let our friends go!" Eighteen demanded.

"Not a chance, soon you will join them, or at least they will. I have other plans for you my dear!" Aldaris declared.

"Like what you little worm?" Eighteen snarled.

"Choose your words carefully my dear. I wouldn't want to have to hurt those two there, they look pretty worn down as it is!" Aldaris pointed at the boys, who were still unconscious.

"Now, co-operate and I promise no one will be harmed!" he warned, motioning for one of his assistant Templar to get a ki restrictor for Fasha.

"Why should we believe you?" Fasha challenged.

"I may not be so gentle with the boy that is in Stasis. Right now I only plan to study him, but other means of torture can be arranged! Tell me girl, what is he to a Saiyan such as you, a sibling or something? He is pretty pitiful though, must need all the help he can get!" Fasha's sudden look of anger caught Aldaris a bit off, but didn't change his cocky attitude. If anything, it increased.

"I know, you must be one of his parental units. A mother or whatever you Terrans call it. Tell me, how long did it take him to get off your nursing breast, or is he still on it? Honestly, you'd think the little worm would grow up?" Aldaris was just trying to have a little fun and get under the Saiyan's skin, however he didn't realize that he was quickly pressing the wrong buttons with her. Fasha hated it when anyone talked bad about someone she cared for, rather it was in a joking manner or not. Eighteen realized it when she heard Fasha's breath started to change again, and started backing away without a word. A few of the Zealots joined in on the laughter, fueling Fasha's rage.

"If anything, I'd say the little brat needs to have a few limbs cut off for being such a bother. You should have seen his sniveling when he was on his knees, begging for his life!" Aldaris laughed louder now. Croton, his personal assistant, took note of Fasha's facial features, and started to sweat a little under the collar.

"Um, Judicator, I don't think," he started before Aldaris cut him off.

"Oh join us on a good laugh Croton, even you deserve a break from nothing but bookworm work. Now try not to slice too much of the kid up when were dissecting him! We wouldn't want to destroy anything that he might need, certainly not any reproductive appendages!" Croton laughed along nervously, following Aldaris' lead, but noted with caution just how angry Fasha looked at this point. Then a loud beeping went off on his wristband computer. When Croton looked down and saw why it was beeping, he looked up in complete horror.

"Um, Judicator?"

"Oh shut up!" Aldaris said as he and the other aliens continued to laugh, not noticing the same alarm like device going off on his wristband. Croton ran off behind a tower for cover. Eighteen noticed the air shift and did a quick scan of the area. She to backed up even more, very quickly.

"What's wrong, did we hurt your pathetic feelings? Ha, I never knew that you Saiyans possessed them! Must be nerve-wrecking to know that your race is so weak!" Aldaris said, drawing the last straw. Fasha's anger then spilled out in a bright gold explosion of ki.

**A/N: Heh, uh oh.**


	26. Jail Break

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 25: Jail Break**

Aldaris was never so scared in his life, or as least that he could recall. He also couldn't believe how quickly the situation had shifted out of his favor. One minute everything was under control and he was having a little bit of fun from the Saiyan's expense. The next he was running for his life when the angry female suddenly got her powers back. Since most Protoss look very much alike, he was thanking the Kalah he had chosen to remain back behind the troops somewhat. The troops didn't fare that well, they were the first thing to go when she assumed her golden form. Fasha rushed at every single Zealot and destroyed them with her bare hands one at a time. Then the cybernetic dragoons were blasted apart one by one, followed by their defensive towers that held the photon cannons. They fired all kinds of Psi shots at the Saiyan, but Aldaris doubted that any actually hit. It should've at least slowed her down since it was able to down the boy when he wasn't looking, but that didn't appear to be the case. Aldaris rushed back to the main temple with his assistant Croton while the Super Saiyan was busy dismantling his army.

"Why didn't you inform me that the disruptor time was up?" Aldaris snarled as they rounded a corner with a few of his guards behind him.

"Sire, I tried to warn you," Croton argued, not bothering to include the whole taunting issue.

Aldaris ignored it all, "Where is the human female I requested? That may be the only way now to shut that bitch down!"

"Just up this way with the rest of your guards!" Croton pointed out as some rather loud explosions shook the ground of the temple.

"Okay, we'll lure them in! Call for backup troops!" Aldaris ordered, almost tripping over himself on the stairs.

Fasha was done being bullied around by these aliens. The Judicator had pushed her too far and now she was going to destroy them all. After making all of their troops look like they were standing still, she started blowing up the buildings, careful to stray away from the main temple and of course, Verto's stasis pod. Eighteen wisely stayed back until she was done fuming. When she was fused with Cell, she had seen what kind of temper tantrum a Saiyan could create before, and she really did not want to be on the receiving end of one like Cell had been when Gohan blew his top. Once most of the buildings were either dust or debris, Fasha finally calmed down. She promptly dropped to the first level of Super Saiyan to help calm herself.

"You feel better now?" Eighteen asked with a slight grin.

"Oh much better now, where did that Aldaris creep go? I've got a bone to pick with him!" Fasha declared, looking around.

"He ran to the safety of the temple once you went off like a bomb. Can't say I blame him either, here lets get these two up!" Eighteen suggested, smacking the sides of Trunks and Goten's faces. They awoke slowly, and immediately started grabbing at the devices that were around their necks. Fasha reached one hand underneath Goten's and pulled. The device didn't buckle much, so she added a bit of ki to her efforts. They snapped in half instantly and she felt their ki return to normal.

"What happened?" Trunks asked right away.

Goten took his chance to look around, "Did we do all that?"

"No, Fasha did. You two got captured!" Eighteen said.

"Can we find my daddy now?" Goten asked, giving off his usual naïve face of cuteness. Eighteen nodded towards the temple and all four of them walked inside. Two minutes didn't go by and they caught up with Aldaris, who was shuffling with something in one of the many rooms.

"Surrender dickhead, or die!" Fasha growled, holding her hand up and ready to blast his head off.

Aldaris shook his finger slightly, "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that! I can end the lives of all your friends with the push of this button, those ki restrictors can also cut off their air supply! Or better yet, I can simply kill this one with one order!" From behind Aldaris, a Zealot stepped out, holding a slightly panicked Videl.

"Videl! You monster, you wouldn't dare!" Eighteen snarled.

"Auntie Videl?" Goten asked, slightly scared.

"It's your turn to surrender little wench. Co-operate and she shall be spared, failure to do so may end her life in an instant! And you wouldn't want anything to happen to the children would you?" Aldaris grinned, holding a Psi blade up to Videl's ear. Videl was unable to move much, the alien was stronger than she was physically, and without any ki abilities she was helpless. But more than anything, she was scared that Fasha would ignore that little fact and attack, they hated each other with a passion ever since she arrived. Videl never thought for a minute Fasha would be right for Verto, in her opinion she was to volatile for the kid. That may have been to blame because of her Saiyan nature, but deep down Videl just knew it. Maybe it was the connection between her and Verto, he had saved her life a few times after all and she nearly grew to love him instead of Gohan. Fasha had shown signs recently of softening up quite a bit, but Videl assumed it could have only been because of Verto.

Fasha eyed Aldaris and Videl carefully, "You would hide behind a human, coward?" she growled.

"Soon to be a headless human!" he warned. Fasha sighed and weighed her options. On one hand she could surrender and they would have to rely on the idiot to get out of this mess. On the other she could sacrifice the girl's life and save everyone else, but Verto would hate her for it, even with the dragonballs. _Damn, I wish his softness hadn't rubbed off on me!_

"Forget about me Fasha! We can use the dragon balls to get me back! Do whatever it takes to take these guys down!" Videl shouted, getting Aldaris' surprised look full front. Everyone had the same reaction, but Fasha then powered up, ready to give it a go.

"No you can't!" Aldaris said out of fear. Then something struck Fasha in the back of her head and she dropped from Super Saiyan into unconsciousness. It was the Psi blast from a small dragoon squad crawling in, making the Judicator rest a bit easier. Goten and Trunks received the same, as did Eighteen.

"Excellent timing my comrades! String them up with the others!" Aldaris ordered. Videl was instantly saddened that her little act of defiance came too late.

"Do not worry my dear, you will die in due time, but not yet!" Aldaris laughed crazily as his assistants took everyone to holding cells, making sure to attach the ki restrictors. Videl just happened to glance down the hall and see a patch of dark hair vanish around the corner, but without her ki sense, she couldn't identify who it was.

-

"Oh no, not Fasha!" Tora said in disgust as the Zealots tossed her into a cell. The boys received similar treatment before the aliens finally left.

"Blast it, they were our last hope too!" Bardock snarled from his own cage.

"Not exactly," Fasha grumbled as she managed to sit up.

"What do you mean girl?" Vegeta barked.

"The big haired moron is somewhere loose in this base. Eighteen and I know he made it here safely. We just need to wait for him to find us!" Fasha said with slight hope.

"THAT IDIOT?! He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag! I give him an hour if he's lucky!" Vegeta growled, sitting down again, "Just what made you think he could make a difference?"

"It was Eighteen's idea, but we never expected them to use a hostage!" Fasha admitted.

"That dime store mannequin thought that up? She needs reprogrammed if she's really that desperate for a plan!" Vegeta grumbled, turning away from the conversation.

"Nevertheless, he is our last hope now! Hopefully he won't do something stupid, like get himself captured!" Bardock grunted, sitting down as well.

"I'm hungry!" Goku announced.

"Shut up!" all of the adults groaned at once.

-

Mr. Satan closely hugged the walls as he followed those who took his daughter. Many times he was forced to duck back into the dark halls that seemed to outline the inwards of this temple, and thus lost track of them on more than one occasion. After what he deemed to be a mile of creeping around, he came to a solid door with a small window at the top. He peered through it to see several jail-like cells inside. The door handle was oddly shaped like a dial of some sort. He found it easy to open just be turning it however.

He slammed the door after rushing in, "Videl! Videl! Daddy's here!"

"There is no one named Videl here, my apologies," a light and older voice said. Satan crept forward slowly, coming up to the only two occupied cells in the hallway. Inside were two Protoss aliens, set across from each other. To Satan, one looked like a warrior type, the other more like an old politician.

"You must be a Terran from this planet, how did you get in here?" the warrior asked.

"Snuck in, you aren't gonna tell your bosses or anything are ya?" Satan asked nervously.

"No, I'm afraid we're prisoners here for awhile. My name is Tassadar, this is my comrade Krator," Tassadar nodded to the impatient Zealot across from him.

"Uh, Hercule, Satan," he said nervously.

"Ah yes, the father in-law of one Son Gohan if I recall correctly. Afraid were all stuck in a fix here, aren't we?" Tassadar asked with his friendly old man voice.

"The kids aren't married yet. I don't suppose you know where to find them would ya?" Satan grumbled, glancing around.

"Your friends should be in the next brig, two levels down," Krator said. Satan didn't waste a minute in heading for the door.

"Stop my friend, we can help you! We know this base inside and out, and I know Aldaris has a close eye on that area just in case someone tries this, you will need some help!" Tassadar claimed.

"Uh sure. What do I do here?" Satan asked, looking at the strange designs on the control panel.

"Push the gold button, then the blue, then the gold again!" Krator said. Satan did so and the bars around Tassadar's cell vanished.

"Excellent," Tassadar exclaimed as he graciously left his prison and freed Krator as well. As soon as Krator was out, a loud alarm sounded, followed by crashes from outside that shook the huge building ever so slightly.

"Uh oh, is that the break out alarm?" Satan asked.

"No, that means were under attack, but by who I wonder," Tassadar rubbed his chin slightly in thought. Satan reached out with his rather new ki sense, picking up the odd signals the Protoss gave off pretty quickly. Then he noticed the scattered ki that he had grown to despise.

"It's the Zerg, I'm sure of it," Satan said.

"How can you tell that?" Krator asked.

"I felt em," Satan answered with a slight scowl.

"Do not fret about my comrade here. He simply does not understand your kind much, just as your kind does not understand us," Tassadar explained for him.

"Uh, whatever," Satan was a bit confused and dumbfounded, not a new feeling for him either.

"Come, we should proceed to the main power chamber. I think I know a way we can free our friends before anyone notices!" Tassadar said as he started for the door. Satan reluctantly followed along with Krator, who never took his eyes off the human.

-

Aldaris' scowl grew more now. The Zerg had not been detected thanks to the Saiyan female destroying most of the sensors around the base.

"Call down some of our forces from space! We must repel the Zerg long enough to make our exit!"

"Understood Judicator, reinforcement troops are warping in now!"

Outside, the numerous Zerg troops poured into the remains of the base, ant the extra Protoss forces engaged them right away. The two races of aliens battled it out, neither side pushing more than giving. After about ten minutes of a bloody battle, Aldaris noticed something, or more specifically, someone creeping around the far side of the base.

"Zoom on that figure there!" Aldaris ordered. The video faded from the battle and into the figure that was slinking towards the still intact Stasis pod containing the Saiyan child. The figure revealed itself to be a humanoid female, but she looked green with large talons on her back.

Aldaris recognized her right away, "Blast it, it's Kerrigan! She's trying to take the child from us, we must not let her do it!"

"Calling in more troops Judicator!" Croton announced.

Kerrigan looked slightly relieved that her forces had stayed the Protoss for the time being, it gave her the time she needed. Suddenly a bright flash went off in front of her, and a few Protoss warriors appeared there.

"Give it up Kerrigan, the child is not going anywhere!" one Zealot said, drawing his blades.

"Oh please boys, spare me the speech!" she said, drawing up her inner powers. She cast a storm of Psi energy onto the warriors, shocking them to the point that they simply fell to the ground dead.

"Pitiful!" she grinned, turning her attention to the Stasis pod.

"Okay little man, time to get you some help," she said, typing in a series of commands on the console. When they didn't work she frowned and walked to the front of the capsule. With one hard hit, her talon broke the side of the capsule, and the green fluid poured out along with the boy. He was still in a hibernation state, and she expected him to be like that for awhile, he looked to be quite injured as well. As she unplugged the wires hooked to him and scooped up his limp body, she cast a glare towards Aldaris's window before taking off into a hard sprint.

"_You'll pay for this Aldaris, I guarantee it!"_ she silently thought at him.

Aldaris bared his teeth for the first time, "Not likely you ugly abomination! She's getting away, send the scouts to stop her. She cannot be allowed to get away!" As Kerrigan entered the countryside, she saw the air ships warp in and chase her down, firing Psi laser beams at her feet and before her.

"Silly Protoss," she mumbled, and activated her cloak. It covered both her and the boy, allowing her to continue her trek with the dumbfounded Protoss ships looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Damn it!" Aldaris roared in anger. The remaining Zerg in the base were finished off quickly once more of the air ships arrived, but more Zerg started to fill the skies, sweeping towards the base quickly. These Zerg were orange, blue and red in color, giving the impression that other Broods were attacking again.

"Ha! Looks like she got the best of you!" Videl taunted from the sidelines despite still being held by the guards.

"Quiet girl, I may take my frustration out on you next!" Aldaris snarled. While Videl was very saddened that the Zerg had gotten a hold of her friend, Videl was more relieved that he was out of Aldaris' clutches.

"Judicator, more Zerg are arriving! Should I send for more troops?" Croton asked.

"Yes, we mustn't be overwhelmed when we have plenty of backup troops in space!"

"Judicator, I'm receiving a strange reading from the Zerg Overmind!" another Templar announced from the panel showing the entire Earth.

"What is it doing?" Aldaris asked.

"It's, lifting out of the ground!"

"IT'S WHAT?!" Aldaris shouted in shock.

"It appears to be leaving the planet, the other underlings are following suit!"

"Oh damn it all! They have the child and now they're running for it, have our forces track them! We will deal with them in time, right now we shall deal with the remaining Zerg here and then the Saiyans!"

"Yes Judicator, dispatching carrier units twenty-five and twenty-six to follow!" the Templar announced, relaying the signal. Right after he did, the power suddenly went down in the command center, and emergency lighting came on. When the power went off, so did the shields, to which the Zerg did not hesitate to attack the outside of the temple with their kamikaze flyers.

"What now, find out what happened and get the power back!" Aldaris ordered.

-

Mr. Satan grinned slightly, seeing his new powers put to good use finally. Tassadar and Krator had led him to the main power core of the temple and proceeded to shut it down. However he was slightly surprised that his codes couldn't shut off the core. Satan didn't care, and blasted the thing apart. The three rushed back to the prison area, which was a good ways away from the main power core. They came upon a few dozen guards around the cells, and stopped short to plan.

"What do we do? I don't think I can take that many," Satan stewed.

"You might be able to, but we won't risk it. I have an idea, just remain still for a moment," Tassadar said, concentrating hard. Suddenly another Satan appeared in the hallway, in full view of the guards.

"Can't get me you alien toads!" he said, running the other way. The guards rushed after him, leaving the cells unguarded temporarily.

"What the heck was that?" Satan asked.

"A Hallucination of you, they'll be chasing that thing for a good five minutes. That should be more than enough time to break our friends out!"

"Wait a sec, shouldn't the power be off down here too?" Satan asked.

"No, the prison cells run off a different power source, but the security codes should be the same," Krator explained for the human. The opened the first hall to discover some of their friends.

"Well I'll be, the fool did something useful after all!" Vegeta grumbled but with a smirk.

"Mr. Satan, am I glad to see you!" Goku said happily.

"I see you broke out Tassadar as well, good, we'll need the expertise," Vegeta noted. Krator went to the individual cells, releasing everyone from those, but seemed a bit stumped on what to do about the ki restrictors.

"We haven't been able to pry them off, whatever they are made of it must be pretty tough," Gohan said.

"As I figured, Aldaris would have to make these things strong enough to resist brute force on your level. However, I think a little outside force will shake these loose," Tassadar said, allowing his hand to glow blue with Psi. He grasped the side of the device around Tora's neck first, shorting it out and releasing the Saiyan. Krator did the same, carefully slicing the devices off the others with a few Psi blades he had picked up earlier.

"Awesome, it feels much better to have my power back!" Goku said with a grin.

"Agreed, feeling weak is not one of my favorite prospects!" Vegeta growled.

"Your other friends should be in the brig next door," Tassadar said, showing the way out.

"Hey, buffoon! Watch our backs!" Vegeta ordered Satan as headed straight for the other door. Inside they found Bulma, Chichi, Eighteen, Roshi, Yamcha, Buu, Piccolo, Dende, Krillin, Chiaotzu and Tien.

"Oh Vegeta! I knew you would find a way to get us out!" Bulma said, wrapping her arms around her husband despite the embarrassed look he was giving her. After removing the ki restrictors, everyone had questions for the others, which got nothing but mixed answers. Satan waited in the hall; as he didn't see his daughter in there, which made him angry.

"That Aldaris guy must still have her, if he harms a hair on her head…" he started to fume, not noticing his son-in-law behind him.

"Aldaris has Videl? Argh, if he hurt her at all he will die slow," Gohan said in a deadly low voice.

"Halt Saiyans!" a voice shouted from afar. Satan and Gohan looked up to see the Protoss guards coming back, a bit stewed that they were fooled by an illusion.

"Where is my daughter Videl? You better tell me where she is!" Satan shouted.

"Oh that other female. Judging by how upset the Judicator is right now, I'd say she's as good as dead soon. As for you, you're going back into your cells right now!" Satan scowled in disgust, and started letting his energy rise.

"You dirty aliens, you're going to pay! Ka, me, ha, me, HAA!" Satan shouted, firing his newly learned blue beam at the surprised aliens. It burned right through them and blasted a hole in the furthest wall that seemed miles down.

"Eat that!" Satan spat as he turned to the others. He was met with mildly surprised to even shocked-shitless faces from the Z fighters and company. Vegeta's was probably the most shocked, though even Buu was amazed. Everyone was, except for Goku; he was actually smiling a little.

"Hey champ, you sure got that move down didn't ya?"

"Let's just find my daughter and get outta here!" Satan said, snapping everyone back to reality.

**Next time on DBV: As the Zerg escape with Verto in their custody, the freed Z fighters look to stop Aldaris from his own plans. A new plan is devised to destroy the earth with the mighty Protoss fleet and only the Z fighters can stop it. But will their combined powers be enough, and what will happen when one of them makes the ultimate sacrifice? It won't be pretty, I promise you, next time on DBV.**


	27. Explosion of Rage

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 26: Explosion of Rage**

"Damn it all, the Saiyans are loose too! Gather everyone up outside, we're leaving immediately!" Aldaris ordered, dragging Videl with one arm and a Psi blade on the other.

"Let go of me you damn jerk!" Videl protested to no avail.

"Little girl, if you value your head you will be silent!" Aldaris growled, using his slightly superior strength to nearly drag her by the arm. Videl didn't fight against it much. Not only did she have to worry about herself, but the child she was carrying. Once they were outside, they were witness to extra Protoss troops warping in to help handle the remaining Zerg forces, who were attacking full on. The armored aliens seemed to have the upper hand with several hundred small attackers in the air to chew up any Zerg air troops. Ground battles had spanned out into a large circle around the compound. A few of the remaining small buildings was now burning to the ground. A large shuttle landed in the middle of the destroyed base, opening quickly.

"There's our ship, let's get out of here!" Aldaris shouted as his guards hung around him like vines, moving at his pace.

"ALDARIS!" a loud and angry voice shouted from behind. Aldaris spun and about swallowed his tongue, assuming he had one. Gohan stood at the entrance to the temple, and he was not even close to being in a good mood. Aldaris growled slightly as Tassadar walked up next to Gohan, followed by the rest of the Z warriors.

"So you're free as well Tassadar? No matter, you won't be going anywhere else!" Aldaris grinned.

"That is where you are wrong Judicator. How long do you think you can keep the Conclave in the dark about what has really happened, about your real intentions?" As Tassadar said this, a lot of the Protoss around Aldaris gave him a strange look. Aldaris knew he had better not say anything to his plans, it wouldn't be good if he did.

"Real intentions, maybe you should inform them of your true self. I'm interested to see when you make that information public!" Aldaris declared, trying to reverse the argument.

"Let go of Videl right now!" Gohan interrupted, ending that argument where it was.

"And what if I don't boy, what are you going to do?" he asked evilly. Gohan snarled and stepped closer.

Aldaris snapped his Psi blade to life and held it next to Videl's neck, "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that, I might slip and there goes her head, and if she dies so does the child she is bearing!" Everyone gasped at this.

"Oh? You thought I didn't know huh, that makes her twice as valuable to you doesn't it? Let's just see how much that is! We're going to be leaving without interference, aren't we my dear?" Aldaris said into Videl's ear. Videl continued to struggle in his grasp, to no avail without her ki.

"What have you done with the boy?" Vegeta growled, stepping up next to Gohan. Aldaris frowned slightly, but he thought that maybe he could play the card he no longer held.

"Oh that bothersome little pest. I've had him transported to our fleet in space, they are now on their way back to Auir. Don't worry, you'll probably see him again in the afterlife once were done studying him!" Aldaris laughed as Vegeta snarled a little more. Fasha looked over at the now broken Stasis cell, and just with that thought shot up to Super Saiyan. Everyone else who intended on at least getting a piece of Aldaris before Gohan ripped his stomach out started building some power as well.

"What the hell are you talking about prune face? I saw clear as day that the Zerg lady ah, owww!" Videl began to say just as Aldaris hit her hard in the back of the head, but not enough to knock her out. The growl that came from Gohan could of scared a lion. It did scare most of the Protoss guards standing between him and Aldaris, but everyone stood their ground.

"Be silent girl!" Aldaris said, shifting her a bit in his grasp because he was off balance. Videl noticed that her one leg was now in between his legs.

"And now, if you don't want to see her head separated, I suggest you cooperate fully with me! Any insubordination will be met with swift death for this Terran, understand me?" Aldaris asked, getting nothing but scowls from the gang.

"Touch her and I'll kill you one piece at a time," Gohan whispered loudly. Aldaris still felt safe behind Videl, which ended up not so safe. Videl prepared herself to run, and kicked straight behind her by bending only her knee, allowing her foot to go straight into the not so protected area of Aldaris's anatomy. He let go of her instantly and she took off running for Gohan.

"Argh, get her!" Aldaris shouted just as he was going down in pain. The guard spun and stabbed with his blade, hitting Videl in the right side area, leaving a noticeable bleeding gash that stopped her in her tracks as she gasped in surprise. The guard stared at his own blade, as if he didn't mean to hit her in a nearly lethal spot. Before he could say anything however, Aldaris conjured a Psi Storm from the air that struck both the guard and Videl, who was still dazed and stunned. The guard was hit directly in the head by the lightning, and pretty much dropped on the spot. Videl however was hit multiple times in the chest and stomach area by the energy storm. Some of it remained once the storm quickly passed, running up and down her body before dissipating. Everyone gasped in surprise, including some of the Protoss warriors that were standing by. Some of the Zerg fighting some distance away even stopped and turned a head or two.

"G-Gohan?" Videl whispered as she dropped to the ground, face down. Gohan's eyes focused wide on Videl as she fell to the ground, lifeless in an instant. Her low ki barely twitched before failing to register at all. Behind Gohan, Chichi and Bulma were ready to cry, trying to cover Trunks and Goten's eyes from the horror they had just seen. The ground under Gohan's feet cracked and chunks of rock began to rise just a little bit as dust swirls began to circle. Vegeta and Goku had been shooting the evil eye to Aldaris, but then saw Gohan's look of shock and quickly backed away.

"In the air, now!" Vegeta shouted to his comrades. Aldaris was trying to figure out what the fuss was all about when Gohan was left alone on the ground. The air was so silent that he swore he heard some sort of pop or snap from Gohan's direction. Then the ground beneath him shook and lightning struck all around despite not a cloud in the sky. Aldaris looked up in fear at Gohan's now glowing blue eyes underneath his silver aura. Then he heard the earth-shattering scream, one that he would never forget.

Interlude: Other World

Kibito Kai was reading a book on how to separate a fusion using a spell when he felt it. At first he didn't think much of it, he felt these kinds of things all the time. But then the force behind it hit him and he fell to his side in surprise. He looked up at his elder, who was watching the crystal ball with a fury.

"What's going on Elder, what is that massive energy I sense?" Kibito asked.

"The result of the tragedy I predicted, that is Gohan you sense now!" Old Kai explained.

"That's Gohan? How is that possible, even with his hidden abilities?"

"That is the full extent of his hidden powers coming to the front right now. And with that Psi energy coursing through him now, he is the most powerful warrior in the universe at this time!"

"Isn't that a good thing elder? We want him to defeat the Zerg and all the evil beings, right?"

"Not necessarily, if he can't control it properly or if it consumes him, it would be disastrous for everyone!"

"What can we do then?" Kibito asked.

"Like I said, nothing at this point in time. Gohan has mastered his powers before and he understands them better than anyone. It isn't with him I'm as concerned as with!"

Kibito was instantly confused, "What do you mean elder?"

"I mean the other child Verto. He has shown just as much potential as Gohan has, if not more due to his age. As pure hearted as he may be, everyone has their breaking point where evil can flood in. All we can do now is hope!" Old Kai said as he went back to his meditation, looking for hope in his thoughts.

"I hope you're right elder," Kibito mumbled, watching the crystal ball as it flashed with energy.

-

King Kai watched the events unfolding on the Earth with hard intent. He had never anticipated that the Protoss would do something so awful to Gohan and Verto. But then the Protoss didn't know Saiyans like he did, and there was going to be a response to this. One hell of a response.

"What's up Northy?" West Kai asked as he strolled up to him along with his pride and joy, Pikkon.

"There's another battle going on Earth. I'm afraid that Goku's son has just snapped and unleashed his full powers!" King Kai replied.

"Isn't Goku your number one guy? What's to worry about?"

"If you ever saw this kid get mad, you would see what I mean," King Kai said, shuddering a little at the memories of the Cell games.

"Hmph, Goku wasn't that great, just lucky!" West Kai snorted. King Kai ignored that, as did Pikkon.

"Say Pikkon, could you do me a favor?" King Kai asked, knowing he had something to take care of now.

"Hey, he's my warrior, not yours! Just because your fighters beat Bibidi's madman doesn't mean you get to order everyone around!" West Kai protested. Again he was ignored.

"What is it you need sir?" Pikkon asked anyway.

"Can you go to King Yemma's place? I need you to bring someone back with you, she's a friend of Goku's!"

"Sure, anything for one of Goku's friends!" Pikkon nodded and flew off, leaving West Kai fuming. King Kai chuckled slightly, and walked in the other direction, towards his rebuilt house on his quarter of the planet.

"Now where are you going Northy?"

"To tidy up, we're going to have some more company soon," King Kai said, whistling for Bubbles and Gregory.

-

Kerrigan was resting inside her personal transport Overlord, watching over Verto. The kid had not even budged since she broke him out of his stasis cell. She had begun to wonder if he was even going to breathe or not, which he finally started to a little bit. _No matter, he'll be like this for at least three weeks before he's even coherent._ Verto surprised her by tossing and turning a bit, moaning in pain slightly.

"Videl," he whispered. _Must be some acquaintance of his. Sorry kido, you're not going to see them for a long time._ He moaned some more before promptly going back into a half frozen sleep.

"Well that was brief, wonder what came over him," she snorted. Then the Overlord was shaken by a shockwave, and then another. Using her Zerg senses, she picked up the entire swarm being shaken up by the same. Then she felt it, a huge power that was putting out these strong energy waves. It terrified her to no end when she measured the energy coming from it. But at the same time she smiled, _Nice going Aldaris, you finally went too far. It's too bad I wont be there to see you die! _Kerrigan noticed that Verto's wounded shoulder had started to bleed again, a sign that his body was beginning to recover from the freezing process and his blood was at least flowing. She spat on the wound, sealing it as she had done with Seventeen. As she smoothed out the seal, she rubbed the boy's hair a bit. _Don't worry kid, you're going to come out of this. It's going to be a bumpy ride but you'll be just fine and back home within a year or two if everything goes right! _

A slight itch tugged at the back of her mind, prompting Kerrigan to pay attention to it instead.

"_Yes, Cerebrate?"_ she asked.

"_Do you really believe he's ready for this?"_ it asked.

"_He'll have to be. Your master seems to have plenty of faith,_" she replied.

"_Depends on which master you're talking about._"

"_Very true. You should not be contacting me in such a way right now_," Kerrigan frowned.

"_With all of that power coming from Son Gohan, I doubt anyone would be monitoring this minor communiqué_."

"_Astute as always. Just don't be too rough on him once he's bound to your commands_. _His mind feels quite fragile at this stage, to be expected,_" Kerrigan warned.

"_I know, however I have a feeling that he may surprise us instead,_" Cerebrate said. Both of them were silent afterwards as the moderate shaking subsided, and Gohan's power finally stopped erupting.

-

Back at the battlefield, all of the earth fighters and the others had either flown up into the air, or had been carried. Primarily to get away from Gohan. The Protoss and Zerg made a small mistake in not only stopping their fight with each other, but taking a slightly closer look before the energy waves starting hitting them. It wasn't enough to knock anyone over, but the air was filled with dirt and dust behind a lightning filled silver aura.

_I cannot take this anymore_

_Saying everything I said before._

_All these words they make no sense_

_I found bliss in ignorance_

_Less I hear the less you say_

_You'll find that out anyway_

_Just like Before…_

Everything you say to me

_Takes me One Step Closer to the edge_

_And I'm about to Break!_

_I need a little room to breathe_

'_Cause I'm One Step Closer to the edge_

_And I'm about to Break!_

Aldaris had given up trying to threaten the Saiyans, he simply did the right thing this time. He ran for the shuttle, as fast as he could. When Gohan had snapped, he under went a transformation that Aldaris wasn't familiar with. He almost expected the golden form that these Saiyans were so proud of. But when his eyes went blue and his hair went silver, he knew he was in trouble. Aldaris had seen Verto do this when powering up his body with Psi, then his ki combined with it, but he was in a rather controlled state despite not being able to handle it. Gohan wasn't in a controlled state, no one calm and collected screamed that loud. Lightning surrounded the fiery Saiyan as he powered up. Aldaris reached the shuttle just as Gohan was done powering up, aided a bit by the stiff wind he was putting out. Then he simply ordered them to take off without their fellow soldiers. The pilots tried to protest, but quickly complied as Gohan had already destroyed the guards. The shuttle made it into the air, but was soon attacked. Aldaris was begging silently that he would be spared when he saw that it was the Zerg attacking and not the boy. Gohan was on the ground, attacking the Protoss troops that were also fighting the Zerg. The other Earth fighters had not joined in, and who really could blame them? Aldaris watched in fear as his Protoss army was cut to shreds in no time by the mighty Saiyan's punches and kicks. He fully expected Gohan to start blasting away on them at first, but his brute strength proved more than enough. Then the Zerg charged the Saiyan from all sides. They reached him only to be blown back by his power as it erupted again and a large number of tiny little energy beams flew out from him. Each Zerg, ground or air, was struck by one and was injured and or died instantly, collapsing to the ground quickly.

"Good gods, nothing is safe from that Saiyan!" Aldaris said as saw that Gohan's face was still very angry, but also determined and controlled now, which scared him even more. Aldaris punched up the video feed from the ground, one that was zoomed in on Gohan's face and another around his area. He flinched slightly and all of the Zerg bodies exploded, dead or not. Aldaris' fear kicked up a few more notches when he saw this.

"Set course for the main fleet, tell them to get the main cannon up and running!"

"Judicator, that will destroy the whole planet if fired! The Zerg have fled and there are hardly any remaining now!" one pilot protested. A rough shockwave shook the ship as it sailed into the upper atmosphere.

"Do you want to argue with that?!" Aldaris asked, his voice quivering. The pilots didn't answer and kept pressing towards the large fleet in space.

_I find the answers aren't so clear_

_Wish I could find a way to disappear_

_All these thoughts they make no sense_

_I find bliss in ignorance_

_Nothing seems to go away_

_Over and over again_

_Just Like before..._

Gohan stared up into the sky in anger, but also somewhat calmly. He allowed his aura to drop, but stayed powered up.

"Gohan?" Goku asked, landing next to him.

"It hurts dad," he said, trying not to cry.

"It's okay son, you can let it out," Goku said, offering him the shoulder to cry on. Chichi had already broken out in tears several meters away. The others that didn't cry held that hard but sorrow filled expression, even though Vegeta attempted to hide it. Gohan shed but a few tears, walking over to Videl's fallen body and kneeling down to it. Dende came over as well, trying to comfort his friend, but not knowing any words that would help at the moment. After all, what do you say to a man who just lost his mate and child at the same time? Tassadar and Krator stayed away from the group, trying to contact the ships in space from the transmission tower that was slightly wrecked.

"Dende," Gohan whispered.

"What is it Gohan?" he asked right away.

"Will King Yemma let her travel to the upper world?"

"More than likely Gohan, not to worry," Dende said, putting an arm around the Saiyan's shoulder.

"Thanks, I promise I'll wish you back Videl!" he declared as he watched her body disappear.

"It seems that King kai has personally made sure she's well cared for," Dende said, trying to provide as much support as he could as he received the telepathic message.

"Come on son, we should get back and try to get a spaceship ready to go to Namek with. Or maybe I can go get Kibito Kai to get us there. We'll get her back!" Goku said, pulling Gohan up.

"Yeah, let's do it," Gohan whispered, trying to hold back the flood of tears that were ready to pour out at any given minute. Meanwhile, Tassadar was busy trying to get someone to answer from the ships in space. He didn't get any response, but he did notice that one of the sensor readouts were going crazy. Gohan's attention shifted upwards suddenly.

"What's wrong Gohan?" Goku asked.

"I don't know dad. I feel something up there, like a huge power surge!"

"Oh no, Aldaris has ordered the Psi Cannon be fired on the planet, it will destroy it upon impact!" Tassadar announced, grabbing a shocked gasp from everyone.

"But he can't, the Zerg have left!" Eighteen argued.

"Looks like he is going to anyway!" Tassadar said with a grim face. Gohan then spotted a bright blue flare in the sky, coming straight at them.

"No, we can't let this happen!" Gohan shouted, powering up again and drawing his arms back for the Son trademark attack. Goku and Bardock lined up next to him, powering up to maximum of Super Saiyan levels and following the same pattern.

"KAMEHAME, HAAA!" all three shouted at once, firing the huge blue beam at the incoming one.

-

"_1stp Kloser" by Linkin Park, part 1_

**Next time on DBV: The Zerg have fled the Earth and one problem is solved. Now another has arisen as Aldaris fires his incredibly powerful Psi cannon to destroy the earth. Can Gohan and the others stop this from happening, or is the earth doomed to destruction once again, find out when the final battle for the Earth is decided on the next chapter of DBV.**


	28. Saving the World, again

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 27: Saving the world, again**

The huge blue beams collided in the sky, sending out energy waves so strong that the birds on the other side of the world were blown down. Humans in evacuation camps took cover wherever they could, rather it be under a bed or a tree out in the country. King Furry and Dr. Briefs hid underneath a table along with some of the guards, praying to survive. Korin and Yajirobi were severely shaken on the tower, spilling the food they were eating. Popo was trying to save his plants as the huge gust of wind came through, taking his turban and almost him as well. Back at the battlefield, the Son family's triple Kamehameha held against the Psi Cannon's beam, wavering slightly. Neither side gave an inch in the struggle, surprising most of the Protoss up in space.

Aldaris screamed at his officers when he saw this, "BOOST THE POWER NOW!"

The tactical officer gasped slightly at the tone, but punched it in, "Raising power to fifty percent!" The Psi cannon fired a beam almost twice the size of what it had been, coming down on the other a few moments later. The Kamehameha wavered more, then began to get pushed back towards the ground.

"Damnit, it's not working!" Vegeta shouted, powering up to Super Saiyan three straight through. He jumped in behind the Son's and fired his own beam to support theirs. Tora and Fasha jumped in to assist as ascended Saiyans and fired beams as well. The Z team's beam expanded to match the Psi Cannon's, pushing it back to a stalemate. By now a huge ball had formed at the collision of the beams, growing more and more all the time. Aldaris scowled when he saw the power boost was matched and pushed back to the stalemate.

"Raise power to seventy percent!" The Templar officers gave him a questioning look.

"You heard me!" he snarled, getting the command across. The beam expanded once again, and pressed down on the challenger beam from Earth. Gohan and Goku grimaced as their huge beam was shrinking quickly in length back towards them. Krillin, Tien and Yamcha quickly came to their side, firing adjoining Kamehamehas. Piccolo and Eighteen weren't far behind in doing the similar. Goten and Trunks then fused and powered up to Super Saiyan three, joining the fray. The beam barely pushed back to the previous position's stalemate. Mr. Satan glanced at Buu, who was watching in wonder.

"Buu, can you help them?" he asked.

"Yes, Buu help!"

"Then get those bastards up in space! Try and shut down whatever is making this happen!" Satan ordered as he rushed over to help his friends. Buu flew straight up as fast as he could, heading straight for outer space.

_Everything you say to me_

_Takes me One Step Closer to the edge_

_And I'm about to Break!_

_I need a little room to breathe_

'_Cause I'm One Step Closer to the edge_

_And I'm about to...Break!_

"Judicator, we're picking up a powerful energy signature emerging from Earth's atmosphere, coming straight at us!"

"What now? Identify!" Aldaris asked from the command chair. The screen blipped to Buu coming right at the large fleet, not in the happiest of moods either.

"Damn, it's that blob creature! Kill it!" he ordered. The small but agile scout ships flew at Buu by the hundreds. They fired their homing missiles at him. Buu stopped and flew away from them as they followed. The missiles closed in faster than Buu thought they could, so he flew in random directions trying to shake them. A few exploded when they collided with each other, but there were still several hundred on his tail. Buu flew around a little more before he saw the Protoss fleet before him. Grinning, he flew into the swarm of small ships, weaving his way around them as they fired their close range blasters at him. Just as he planned, the missiles followed him in, impacting the ships as well since there was so many of them. Still with a lot of missiles and ships on his tail. Buu then spotted the large Psi Cannon sitting in the middle of the huge fleet. He fired several quick ki blasts at it and flew backwards, still trying to shake a lot of missiles that didn't quit. The ki blasts impacted, but did little damage to the cannon. Buu growled slightly, speeding up to give him a better angle and shot towards the cannon. He pulled up just above it, firing a large ball of ki at it. It hit and exploded, still not doing much other than scratches. He flew off again to avoid the missiles, this time going back into the pack of Protoss ships that had been chasing him. He stopped in the middle of this lessened swarm, allowing a missile to hit him once he did. The other missiles closed in and hit where his head had been, creating an explosive cloud.

"Got him. Judicator, the blob is dead!" a Templar said from his station happily.

"Excellent, make sure he's gone for good!" Aldaris grinned.

"Not to worry, his head has been blown off and his body is a drift in space!" The scouts and larger ships closed in on Buu's unmoving body and surrounded him.

"In that case, bring the remains aboard. I want to study this creature thoroughly!" Then Buu's body started moving and it flipped upwards.

"What the?" Aldaris asked. Many of the other officers had the same response. Buu then pulled a new head out from his neck, along with a cape.

"How is that possible?" Aldaris asked in shock. Buu started steaming up, angered now.

"Now you all go bye bye!" he screeched before letting his power go and forming a huge explosion coming out from his body. Any Protoss ships nearby suffered either heavy damage or were destroyed completely if they were too close. Buu gasped for a little bit of breath amidst the new debris field, assuming he needed to breathe. The Psi Cannon and Aldaris' command ship were too far to be terribly affected, but took notice regardless.

"Blast it, send in the interceptors!" Aldaris ordered. The large carrier ships then turned course towards Buu, tiny little flyers coming out of them. Buu glanced at the new swarm of even smaller ships and widened his eyes slightly. The interceptors were no bigger than he was, maybe smaller. There were only about twenty of them coming his way. In the first wave, he was able to knock a few from the skies and crush a few more with his hands. The Psi lasers they fired hit him, but not enough to do much other than annoy him. He regenerated the holes they created quickly, prepping for the next wave. The next wave, made the first one look like nothing. Buu's eyes widened as easily four to five hundred of the small attack fighters closed in on him.

"Uh oh!" he managed to say before engaging in the bigger fight.

_These are the places that I can't feel_

Torn from my body, my flesh it peels

_During this ride we can cut out what we like_

_Waiting alone I cannot resist_

_Feeling this hate I have never missed_

_Please someone give me a reason to peel off my face_

Back on the ground, the Z fighters were starting to drag their feet from the large amount of energy they had been putting out.

"Guys, it isn't enough! Give it all you've got right now!" Goku shouted, doing just that with his beam. The others followed suit with whatever was left in their bodies, pushing the country-sized ball of energy back towards space.

"Judicator, they are pushing it back! The cannon can't keep this effort up!" Croton pointed out.

"Who would have thought these Saiyans have this much power?" Aldaris muttered. After watching the collision wave push its way into the upper atmosphere, Aldaris stood up with a firm expression.

"Give it everything we have, I want one hundred percent power from the Psi Cannon! Blast that planet to dust right now!" Aldaris ordered. All of his officers in the room gave him a shocked expression.

"But Judicator, that's never been tested! The cannon may not be able to produce that kind of power output. It's highly likely that it will overload if that power is generated for very long. The resulting explosion will kill us all, and the planet's explosion may do the same!"

"That does not matter, we must stop the Saiyans before they can rejoin the Zerg and hunt us down back to Auir! The traitor Tassadar is with them, remember? We cannot let them escape and doom us all, maximum power now!" Everyone looked stunned, but slightly understanding at the same time.

"Pushing to maximum power now Judicator!" The Psi cannon's beam now became nearly as big as the half the moon's diameter, the collision ball bigger. The ball plunged back towards earth, slowing as it neared the Z fighters, who were running on empty as it was.

"Oh no!" Gohan shouted.

"Damn it all!" Vegeta roared, firing everything he had left.

"King Kai! Call out to the people of earth, tell them to lend us their energy!" Goku cried out, hoping his trainer was listening. Luckily, he was, however he knew his voice wouldn't reach the people that well.

"Come here girl. Talk to the people of earth and tell them to lend their energy to our friends!" King kai said. The girl put her hand to King Kai's shoulder and spoke out to the Earth.

"_People of earth, this is Videl Satan! My dad and our friends need your help to save us from destruction. Raise your hands and offer up your energy for them!_" Instantly the whole population emerged from wherever they had been hiding and acknowledged the call.

"_Quickly, we don't have much time!_" Any human that was outside would see why in a bright blue light coming from the distance from the main continent. Millions of hands flooded into the air, and the energy surge made it's way to their heroes. Goku felt the surge and pulled one arm backward to reach out and accept it, keeping the other hand firing his beam.

"Thank you everyone!" Goku said. The Z team's beam swelled from the energy from the human's power, and steadily grew in mass until it matched the Psi Cannon's beam.

"Judicator, the power cells are starting to drain! The structural integrity is starting to fail around the cannon, and it won't last much longer!" Croton panicked.

"Just another few minutes should do it, they can't last forever!" Aldaris shouted in response.

On the ground, Goku cringed in desperation. The human energy had evened it out, but not enough to win. He pulled his other hand back to the beam; all of the energy the humans could give had been given.

"I can't keep this up!" Krillin shouted. Yamcha simply dropped to the ground, wiped out. Dende rushed in at this point, casting his healing magic over the whole group. He found he couldn't restore them all at once, but it helped keep the beam alive. Buu meanwhile had been battered, healed and battered some more, but finally had gotten far enough from the Protoss attack flyers to do something about them. His forelock flipped upward and cast his pink magic in a large concentration around each fighter.

"Now be candy!" The fighters then morphed over to rock candy, floating harmlessly in space. Buu flew straight at the Psi Cannon, currently shaking from all of the power it was putting out.

"No more!" he shouted, firing a large and powerful beam at it. It hit on the side, around where the power cells happened to be. Several of them exploded and in result the psi cannon's beam started to recede.

Blood is pouring

_Blood is pouring_

_Blood is pouring_

_Blood is pouring_

_SHUT UP WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!_

Gohan glanced up as this happened, seeing the beam's power start to decrease and dug for all his powers that he could find.

"Now's our chance!" he shouted. The others followed suit and all collapsed as they did, dropping out of whatever transformation they might have been in. Gohan hung on and used his remaining power to stay up. The last bit of power from the Z team poured forth from him and mixed with his Psi energy, turning the beam teal green in color and pushing the planet sized ball of power into space.

"Judicator, the cannon is failing! It's going to blow!" The rest of the cannon's power cells melted from the battering of Buu's constant ki attacks and cut all the power from the cannon. The massive green Kamehameha then surged into it, destroying it along with half of the remaining Protoss fleet. The beam pushed past and into the deep reaches of space. Aldaris's ship shook violently as the cannon blew up, pushing them away from it. Other ships were either wiped out or pushed away with heavy damage.

_Everything you say to me_

_Takes me One Step Closer to the edge_

_And I'm about to Break!_

_I need a little room to breathe_

'_Cause I'm One Step Closer to the edge_

_And I'm about to... Break!_

Gohan saw the explosions high in the sky and grinned slightly as he caught his breath, shutting down his now teal-green beam and taking a knee.

"We, did it!" he said as his hair turned black and he promptly fell to the ground. Goku, barely conscious despite Dende's healing magic, managed to crawl next to his son.

"No son. You did it! Good job, I'm proud of you!" Goku whispered with a smile before gazing up at the stars. Vegeta sat on one knee nearby, catching his breath.

He followed his rival's look to the sky and whispered to it, "If you're still alive Aldaris, You've just sealed your fate! You had better run for the rest of your life before we hunt you down. It's your move!"

-

_"1stp Klosr" by Linkin Park pt2_

**Next time on DBV: The battle for Earth is over and now begins the search. The Saiyans start their journey to find Verto and confront Aldaris before he returns to threaten the Earth. The only questions remaining are who all is going and where are they going to find a ship fast enough? And what will become of Verto? Find out in the final chapter of the Invasion saga, next time on DBV.**


	29. Departure

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Chapter 28: Departure**

Aldaris scowled as he managed to push himself up from where his seat had fallen to its side. Other Templar on the main bridge were picking themselves up as well.

"Report!"

"The cannon has been destroyed Judicator! Less than ten warships remain of our fleet. Recommend we immediately retreat back to Auir!" Croton suggested.

Aldaris' scowl grew in size, "Make it so, activate the warp field right away! Whatever ships don't make it in will be left behind! We must escape before the Saiyans regroup!"

"Understood Judicator, setting course for Auir. Estimated arrival time at four months, damage repairs pending," the Templar explained from his console. Aldaris nodded grimly and watched as less than half of his ships managed to get into the large blue field that was forming around the main ship. It then launched itself quickly into space, leaving the blue planet and its lucky survivors behind.

-

Dende had his job cut out for him, but worked tirelessly to revive all of the fallen heroes. Luckily he had been using his healing power since he was about five, therefore he could handle it.

"Wow, that sure was a close one," Tora said first. Chichi and Bulma came running in for their respective families.

"Brat, are they still up there?" Vegeta asked Gohan once he was revived.

Gohan concentrated for a second or two, "I can't really tell, I sense Buu coming back down but if there's any Protoss left I can't pick them up!"

"So we got them all with that one blast?" Vegeta asked, a little surprised. Buu then landed on the ground, munching on candy balls.

"Does that answer your question?" Piccolo snorted.

"Meanies all dead or run away!" Buu said happily.

"Good, maybe we can getting the wretched Zerg off this planet!" Vegeta said, glancing to the east.

Gohan narrowed his eyes, "No I don't think we need to."

"What?" several shouted at once.

Eighteen nodded, "That is correct. When Fasha and I came to the base, I detected the Zerg start to gather themselves for a final attack while the Overmind prepared to leave. The Protoss scanners had detected the same while I hacked into their systems!"

"I don't sense the Zerg anymore on the planet! I picked some up that were leaving in space, but they were definitely leaving. I don't think there's anymore left on the planet!" Gohan added.

"What, that's crazy! Why would they up and leave like that when we were fighting with the Protoss! it doesn't make sense, it almost helps them out!" Tora said, confused.

"Agreed, it doesn't make sense," Piccolo muttered loudly.

"Alright then. Woman, how long will it take to get a spaceship going?" Vegeta demanded from Bulma who was busy checking Trunks over.

"Probably awhile Vegeta, they destroyed our home you know! Unless of course they left the other building alone, why do you need one?" she screeched back.

"We need it to track down the Protoss, they have the boy! Not to mention we'll need to stop at Namek to use the dragonballs!" he said loudly back.

"Why do they have Verto?!" Bulma asked. Vegeta and Gohan explained to the others who weren't informed as to why he was taken into Stasis in the first place, as they had not been told.

"So that creep wants to learn his abilities huh? Good luck, that kid is solid as a rock when it comes to talking when he doesn't want to. And I doubt that old fart has any attractive women to lure him into it," Fasha said, a little pissed at the whole issue. Vegeta glanced over at Tassadar, who was picking through the broken equipment of the base with Krator.

"Well we need to go to Namek regardless, to wish Videl and the others back," Gohan said sternly.

"Agreed. Tassadar, is there anyway for you to get a ship for us?" Vegeta shouted to him.

"With this broken equipment, no. If the command center hasn't been too damaged I may be able to make a distress call, but that is a big if. And even if the Conclave receives our transmission, it would still take at least four months for an advanced ship to reach us," the alien said humbly. Gohan's senses then picked up on something coming in from above.

"Great, now what?" he said, getting everyone's attention. A large but slightly damaged carrier ship hovered over the base. Protoss warriors then appeared in front of them and Tassadar.

"Tassadar, you are to come with us back to Auir for trial of treason!" one of the Zealots said, motioning for him to come along.

"The Executor did no such thing, it was Aldaris the entire time!" Krator stomped up in defense.

"I am sorry, but unless you can prove such a thing we cannot believe it!" the warrior replied.

"Wait a second, let's go inside the temple and find the observer files. I would wager that Aldaris didn't destroy them out of carelessness. If we find no such proof there you may take me back to Auir and I shall not resist," Tassadar said, bowing his head slightly. The warriors looked at him strangely, but then followed their brethren inside the temple, leaving Earth's warriors to discuss the issues with each other.

"Well whether we go with them or not, we need to wish Videl back," Gohan said, snapping everyone back to attention.

"_Hey guys!"_ came a voice. Everyone's head jerked upwards at the female voice.

"Videl?" Gohan asked, his voice quivering.

"_Hi Gohan, I'm talking through King Kai!"_

"Videl, I promise we'll get you wished back right away!" Goku said.

"_Actually that's why I'm calling. You see, that Kibito Kai person just told us not to use the dragonballs yet. He said we shouldn't use them until we're done with this mess! And besides, King Kai said that he would train me up here so I don't need to be saved all the time! Once you're done with the Zerg and come back to this dimension, then wish me back!"_

"Are you sure about that Videl? I mean the Zerg have fled and all we need to do is track down the Protoss and get Verto back!" Gohan said a little uneasy.

"_Well that's the problem. Aldaris lied when he said he had Verto, he doesn't!_" Videl stated.

"WHAT?!" everyone asked at once, including King Kai.

"_Yeah, he kinda lost him during the fight with the Zerg. They have him now!"_

"Shit!" Vegeta cursed right away, Tora and Fasha had a similar reaction. Videl remained silent; she wasn't totally sure how they would take that.

"_Well good luck I guess guys, I try to call from time to time!" _Videl thought to them in a semi-cheery mood.

"I'll miss you Videl," Gohan sniffed slightly, trying not to cry.

"_Ditto!_"

Tassadar and the other Protoss reemerged from the temple, but the warriors were marching with him and not against him this time. "Well, who all is going?" he asked with a smile.

"You mean you got us a ship?" Vegeta asked in surprise.

"Yes, that one. It's damaged and must be repaired before we can leave, but it will be functional for our journey. Where must you go?" he asked while nodding towards the ship above them.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed along with Gohan's, "To find the boy!" the prince said in a growl.

"And Aldaris!" Gohan snarled. That particular remark got drew a frightened gaze from many people present.

"Well the ship should be ready in a few days, I suggest you all prepare for the long journey. It will probably take four to six months to reach Auir from here with this particular ship. Pending we don't run into anything of course. If the command ship wasn't destroyed, then Aldaris is likely on it. Unfortunately, it is much faster than this basic Carrier, but it will have to suffice," Tassadar explained.

"That's fine, we will determine who will be going by then," Vegeta said, powering up his aura for flight and holding onto Bulma in his arms.

"See you in a few days then my friends!" Tassadar waved slightly with what he could consider a smile as the others followed Vegeta back to Capsule Corp.

----

"Man, those aliens could have at least left more than the basement shelter, the jerks!" Bulma whined as the entire crew came back to what used to be their home, "Man its gonna take a few months to get the building back up and running for at least a house to live in!"

"Hmph, no matter. You will have plenty of time to do that with while we are gone!" Vegeta said, looking at the area that used to be the gravity room. He headed over to it, finding the floor of the chamber was still there, but not much of the actual controls.

"What are you looking for Vegeta?"

"Something I stored for a rainy day," he muttered, lifting one of the panels up. In his hand he revealed a capsule that was in there.

"What's that Vegeta?" Goku asked. Vegeta released the contents, revealing a small spaceship with the Capsule logo on it.

"I saved it a long time ago, just in case I had a use for it. If you think I'm going to laze around for six months on their ship, you're dead wrong, we will train!"

Bulma just rolled her eyes, "Well who all is going so I can call Dad for some more Saiyan combat suits?"

"Kakarot, myself, Bardock, Kakarot's first brat, Tora and Fasha, the rest of you will remain here while were gone!" Vegeta ordered, waiting for any sort of signal of objection.

"Awww, why can't we go Dad?" Trunks asked.

"This isn't a mission for toddlers boy, you need to stay here to protect your mother," he said in a low voice, getting the point across. That gave both of the boys sour faces, but they didn't say much to it.

"I should go to, you know they may need help with the technical stuff!" Bulma suggested.

"Forget it woman, I will not have my mate around any more aliens if I can help it! Besides, the newest brat will be born soon!" Vegeta said immediately.

"Oh Vegeta, you do care!" she said with a deep smile. Vegeta muttered under his breath, but said nothing else.

"Well we better get ready to go then!" Goku said, motioning for Gohan, Chichi and Goten to come with him.

"Meet ya back at Tassadar's ship in two days then!" he called back, waving.

-

"So you want me to do what now?" Videl asked, slightly confused as she struggled to keep on her feet. The gravity on the planet was intense, but she wasn't struggling as much with that as she was with King Kai.

"Your first test is to make me laugh. You must know a few good jokes since you were living on Earth, but they have to be funny to count!" King Kai answered with a wicked grin. Videl stared at him blankly, trying to sort it out.

King Kai frowned, "Well, my deal has always been to never train anyone that doesn't have a sense of humor. So you might want to hurry it up!" _Is this really the great martial arts master that Goku trained under?_ She looked blank, trying to get a joke that he may actually laugh at. She thought about Goku, as that was their only similarity is that they both knew him. The only thing Videl could really think of that was odd about him other than fighting was the food.

Then she had her answer, "Hey, how does Goku fight indigestion? The Kamehameha dump!" In no time at all King Kai was rolling on the ground in fits of laughter. _I wonder if all his tests will be this easy?_ Videl thought as she stared at the rolling Kai.

"Oh ho, that was a good one. All right, Videl its time to start the training! As you know the gravity here is about ten times that of Earth's, I want you to try to catch my monkey Bubbles while he runs away!"

"Piece of cake!" she said with a cocky grin.

"Oh really, I'll have you know it took Goku three weeks to do it!" King Kai boasted as Bubbles started to dance.

"Three weeks to catch a monkey? You can't be serious!" Videl claimed.

"No I'm not, it really took him ten days. That was non-stop except for food and it was only his first exercise. Until you can move around that easily, you're not ready for anything. It helps adjust to the gravity here!" King Kai explained.

"Right, I see. Okay, I'll give it my best shot. This'll remind me of chasing little Verto, Goten and Trunks around. Come here you little ape!"

-

"Bye Mom, I'll try not to let you down!" Gohan said to Chichi, as Goku and himself were ready to leave.

"Oh I know you won't. Bring back Verto okay? I'll miss that little bag of sarcasm!" Chichi said.

"Yeah Chichi, we will," Goku said as he and his first-born took off from their house in the mountains. They were very surprised to find it had been untouched during the Zerg invasion, unlike Capsule Corp. They flew high and fast towards Tassadar's ship, which hovered over the ground with random Protoss running about and checking it over. Vegeta, Tora, Fasha and Bardock waited below it, all of their essentials packed away in capsules.

"Greetings my friends, I trust everyone who is coming is here presently?" Tassadar asked from the entrance ramp.

"Yes, we are ready to leave now!" Vegeta said.

"Follow me," Tassadar motioned. Once aboard the large carrier ship, Vegeta was directed towards a cargo bay of some type, a place where he could set up the gravity chamber. Once everyone had been assigned guest quarters, Tassadar had them come up to the bridge.

"I thought you would want to see your planet on the way out of here," he said from his command chair.

"Entering space now Executor!" a nearby Templar announced. The screen blipped to a view of the Earth, which Goku and Gohan stared at.

"Goodbye Earth, stay safe!" Gohan said to the screen.

"Hmph, you act like you've never been off your planet before boy," Vegeta snorted from the background. Gohan ignored the prince, taking in the view as they slowly made their way away from it.

"Activating hyper drive now!" The view of earth was replaced by a sudden whoosh of stars going by as the ship accelerated to cruising speed.


	30. Epilogue

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.  
**

**Epilogue**

I awoke in what I thought to be the stasis chamber that I fell asleep in. The fluid was warm and comforting, not freezing cold like it had been. The fluid was still green, but I found I could breathe it in and out without a problem. I glanced down to see that all of my clothes had been removed, and my tail was covered in some sort of rough green tissue. Seeing that I could move just fine, I swam up to the top of the chamber and poked my head out. The room I was in was dark and gloomy, the walls were dripping slightly.

"You shouldn't be out already, your body has not healed yet," a sharp female voice said from behind. I turned to see a familiar green skinned girl with thick black blades of hair belonging to Kerrigan.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You've been in a cold sleep for about three weeks now. It's the side effects from being put into stasis and not being removed properly. I am sorry for that, but there was no other way at the time," she said softly, putting a scaly hand to my head.

"You haven't answered my question," I said a little louder this time.

"Quite right, we're traveling in space currently, far away from your planet. We should be at our destination within two weeks," she explained, leaving me clueless. That's when I noticed that the ki collar device was still around my neck, functioning just fine despite the fact it was drowned in the green fluid. Thankfully it was not tight, but rather loose instead.

"Oh sorry about that, I'll take it off soon. I just didn't want you to start blowing things up right when you awoke, wouldn't want to get sucked out into space would we?" she asked as she rubbed my spiky hair a little.

"So are you here to infest me?" I asked in a pitiful tone.

"Me? No, the Overmind wants to infest you. I am here to help you!" she claimed.

"That makes no sense! You stole me away from the Protoss just to give me to your master and that is helpful?" I asked angrily.

"It is necessary for you to understand the Zerg before you know how to deal with them, and how to deal with the Overmind itself. To understand the Zerg, you must become the Zerg. Fear not, good things will come of this eventually, but it will be a hard road ahead!" Kerrigan warned.

**Preview: As Vegeta and the others race across space to find their friend, Verto learns the ways of the Zerg. In a strange galaxy with even stranger allies, nothing is what it seems. The Overmind will do anything it can to get Verto to join their cause, and what is Kerrigan's true purpose? Is she a friend or foe to Verto? As Gohan and Verto further explore the secrets of their new powers, destiny is racing towards another collision between good and evil, the only question is what side everyone is on. And don't forget Judicator Aldaris, what tricks will he have up his sleeve for our heroes? Read on in the next saga: Dragonball V Series 5: Swirling Destiny.**

**3-1-09. All previous chapters have been enhanced and edited for errors and such. The process will continue through the next saga.**


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